Reaching Out
by MarilynnRae
Summary: Rusty Beck and his twin sister Riley have been through hell and back together and they're not giving each other up now. A story of earning a family and learning to trust and love.
1. Chapter 1

_Riley and Rusty Beck have been through hell and back together, but they are not giving each other up now. A story of earning a family._

_Riley is an OC that is meant to show a new side to Rusty, Sharon, and the rest of the team. _

As long as they had been alive the only people Rusty and Riley could count on were each other, though they had very different views on who was the cause of their pain and suffering. While Rusty was quick to point out the person throwing the punches was their mother's boyfriend, Riley was just as quick to point out that their mother was letting it happen.

But they had made a deal, right from the first time their mother locked them in an apartment and left for two weeks, that no matter what they stuck together. Neither made a sacrifice that the other wouldn't be willing to make. So they both knew what it was like to sell themselves on the street so they could eat, they knew what it was like to live with sins that most people couldn't understand.

So no, they weren't going to be separated. They were not going to be sent to separate homes again. It was sticking together no matter what.

Which was why they kept running away. Also why they were sitting in the Major Crimes lobby.

Sharon Raydor looked at the two sixteen year olds as she entered the room, an officer in blues standing over them as Riley played with her sandy brown braid and kept her eyes down and Rusty seemed up for the challenge, even though he was still wearing his boot from when he broke his leg.

"Rusty, Riley, what are you doing here?" Sharon asked.

Riley couldn't tell if she was aggravated or purely curious, but she was fairly certain it was the first one. In her experience it usually was.

The young officer spoke for them. "The boy's file says 'Attention: Major Crimes' and the girl refuses to leave him. Apparently this is the third time both of them have run away from home this week."

"It's not my home," Riley and Rusty both groan in unison, Riley a bit more aggressive than Rusty.

"The foster parents the DCFS put him with won't take him back and the girl, well..." The officer motioned to her like she was some sort of lost cause to deal with.

"That's fine with me," Rusty snapped. "They were terrible."

Raydor looked like she was at least trying to understand. "What's the problem?"

"Living with complete strangers! That is the problem! I'm not even allowed to see my sister," Rusty snapped throwing an arm toward Riley who was being very quiet at the moment. "_And_ they were like telling me what to do, all day long, like what I could eat. And they would turn off the television at 9:00 every night."

"So, you were tortured," Raydor replied sarcastically before looking at Riley with a raised eyebrow. "And you?"

Riley shrugged a bit. "I wasn't allowed to see my brother."

Raydor looked at Riley for a moment longer, feeling that she actually held more complaints that just that, but she decided not to pry for the moment. Finally, she looked back at the officer and gave him a polite smile. "I will take care of them." She accepted the files with a small thanks and then turned her attention back to the twins.

"Look, I know Brenda was fired, or whatever, but I need to speak with her. Right now," Rusty demanded as Riley pulled her iPod out of her pocket and started to scroll through the songs.

Raydor took a deep breath and then handed the files she was carrying over to the woman that followed her in. "If you could excuse me for a moment," she said as always keeping up her manners.

"Yes, ma'am, and may I say congratulations on taking over major crimes. Well deserved," the woman smoozed and Raydor obviously wasn't sure how to take the comment.

Riley and Rusty followed her into her office, Riley only stopping long enough to turn back and look at the woman smiling to herself. "No one likes a kiss ass," Riley told her simply.

She paused just long enough to see the smile get wiped on the woman's face an triumphantly went back to following her brother and the captain. Riley also noticed that Captain Raydor opened her door with a certain amount of uneasiness as she entered the office. Probably for the first time, at least the first time that it was her own office.

Riley eyed everything from the blue walls to the maple wood desk. It was the same as it was when Brenda was in the office, except now it was cleaner. Not a single person possession was anywhere to be seen.

"Look, we had a deal," Rusty went on as he moved toward the chair. Riley decided to stay as close to the doorway as possible, feeling safest when she was near an exit. "I helped you guys catch a serial killer so that you would find my mom, not just dump us in the system."

Riley rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. The earbuds were in her ears, but she didn't have music playing, she just liked to appear to not be listening.

Raydor raised her eyebrow at her as she flipped on all the lights in the office.

"I mean, you wanna know why people don't like the police?" Rusty went on. "It's because you're all a bunch of liars. That's why."

Raydor went around her desk and took a seat. "Riley, anything you would like to add?" she asked glancing at the seat next to Rusty, telling her to take a seat without outright doing so.

Slowly moving away from the wall, Riley obeyed and gave half a shrug. "I think he's saying enough for the both of us."

There may have been a smirk on the captain's face for half a moment, but it was wiped away as she looked back at Rusty. "We haven't been able to find your mom yet and you both are too young to live unsupervised, plus a lot of places can't take two teenagers."

Riley shrunk in her seat wrapping her arms around herself. but Rusty wasn't about to give us the fight.

"We've lived unsupervised for months and nobody cared! At least we were together. They shouldn't be allowed to separate us! I think we can handle living on our own again."

Flipping through the papers, Raydor tried to catch up as quickly as possible but apparently realized the file told her nothing she didn't already know. "You, Rusty, are a material witness in a murder trial which means that you have to go to court when Phillip Stroh stands trial and you have to testify under oath about what happened."

Riley and Rusty both seemed to pale at this idea. "I don't," Rusty muttered, but Raydor shook her head.

"Yes, you do. And we have to protect you."

"No. I'm not doing that and you can't make me!" Rusty shouted back at her, despite his sister trying to reel him back in and lower his voice.

"Oh yes, we can make you and we will make you. And until then, we need to find a safe play for you to stay," Raydor continued, almost gritting her teeth now. This woman apparently did not like being challenged.

"Look, I-I-I don't know you, really, but I don't like you. So I'd rather deal with Brenda, please." Riley knew that Rusty just threw in the please as a last ditch effort to appeal to the woman's manner obsessed side that was pretty much radiating off of her.

"Well, I'm afraid you're standing at the back of a very long line," Raydor replied with a bit of a shrug. "Unfortunately, Chief Johnson has retired from the L.A.P.D. She is out of town. So I'm who you've got."

"What?" Rusty did not like that sound of that, but Riley seemed completely indifferent. There was a knock on the door and Raydor looked a little disgruntled.

"Hold on..."

"No! You hold on!" Rusty snapped. "I need to know who here is look for our mother!"

Captain Raydor looked at him. "I am. I am supervising the search for your mother and I will find her."

At that, Riley turned on her head phones. She deafly watched another argument between Buzz, Rusty and Raydor. Sometimes she really wanted to punch her brother. He held the cards and instead of asking for a plane ride out of hell, he's demanding someone find their mother and give them back to her.

She didn't want to go. She didn't want to think about going. In fact if it was between where she was sleeping six hours ago and her mother, it was a coin toss. As much as she knew her mother would most likely still leave them again, she didn't want to see Rusty's face when she did. She could spend the next two years of her life fighting off her foster father if it meant not seeing Rusty's disappointed face again.

Rusty suddenly snapped his finger in his face and pointed to the younger guy that they apparently were suppose to follow.

Riley sat in the electronics room with her chin on knees and her arms wrapped around her legs. Her long sandy hair was tied into a tight braid going halfway down her back as her blue eyes refused to focus on anything.

Of course, Rusty had to start causing problem. He wanted a lawyer. He didn't want to testify. He wanted them to live on their own. Well, even Riley knew that nothing was in their hands anymore whether he had a lawyer or not. It was time to stop fighting. But Rusty never understood that it stops hurting as much when you stop fighting it. When he finally stood up and started pointing his crutches at Buzz, Riley ripped out her headphones just as Raydor came storming into the room as well.

"Will you shut the hell up about a lawyer?" Riley snapped in Rusty's face as he suddenly quit fighting to stare at her. "We're in this because of you! Not wanting to testify against a serial killer is more stupid that wanting our freaking mother back!"

Raydor stopped dead in her tracks as Riley snapped at her brother.

Rusty gave his sister a hard shove backwards. "So you want to go back to that house? You want to keep living there?" He shoved Riley again, this time she tripped over Buzz and stumbled to the ground. It wasn't anything more than sibling violence, but Raydor had enough.

"If you don't knock it off and I mean right now the next place you go is gonna have locks on the doors and bars on the windows. Do you want to spend the next two years in a juvenile detention center?" Raydor threatened, truly fed up. "Keep talking and see what happens."

Rusty seemed lost for words and Riley stood up and dusted herself off. She had tears in her eyes that she was trying to wipe away as Rusty looked over at her. "God, Ri, I'm sorry," he told her trying to help her up.

Riley wrapped her arms around her brother and held him tight. "For the love of God, Rusty. Just shut up."

Raydor was having Rusty and Riley's things sent to her office, but since Rusty was in emergency care it meant that he need twenty-four/seven adult supervision. Riley on the other hand was not. She was hardly more than a tag along, but the captain did seem to notice that sometimes she acted as a conscious for her brother. Rusty was definitely more impulsive than Riley, but the captain had a feeling Riley had more to tell than she was giving up.

"Before we can deal with any of your concerns," Captain Raydor told the twins pointedly, "we need to comply fully with the law. And we will."

Riley bit her lip to keep her comments to herself, but Rusty didn't have a problem leaning over and whispering, "What crawled up her ass?"

Riley originally meant to give Rusty a dirty look, but failed miserably when she saw his mischievous smile as a sort of apology for earlier. They shared one of their classic looks that they always did when they felt like they were a team again as Buzz handed Rusty his crutches back.

"Can I stay in the break room while you take him to the doctor?" Riley asked Buzz using her big eyes to her advantage. "I swear, I'm the good one."

Buzz looked really torn, but Riley kept going. "I mean, I guess I could go with you to Rusty's doctor's appointment, but it would be a lot easier for us to escape and Captain Rule Book will really be pissed. I mean, let's face it. Two against one, you don't stand a chance."

Riley smiled a perfectly white smile at Buzz that held a sinister nature to it. Rusty just shrugged. "She had a point."

Buzz inhaled. "Fine. But you stay in the break room and you better be there when I get back."

Riley held up three fingers. "Scout's honor."

Then she turned on her heels and toward the break room. Prevenza may have noticed the money missing out of his wallet by now, but she only took a couple ones and a twenty. The twenty was just in case she did get sent back to her foster parents that night. She was going to do whatever it took to stay the hell away from that place.

As she rounded the corner of the hallway toward the break room and ran smack into a man she recognized as Andy Flynn. She literally had to restrain herself from picking his pocket out of pure habit.

"Hello," he said with a questioning tone. "I thought you normally came with a brother?"

Riley ran a nervous hand down her braid. She did usually come with a brother and particularly didn't like being alone with men. She took a few nervous steps back, putting more than the appropriate amount of distance between them.

"I was hungry..." Riley said suddenly back to being quiet. "I was just going to the break room for a snack."

Flynn gave the girl a once over, noticing that she wasn't meeting his eyes and he wasn't sure if she was trying to hide dishonesty or fear. As he took another step, the girl tried to get further away. Fear it was then.

He nodded at her. "I won't keep you then." Riley watched him with a cowered head as he moved past her. "Oh, and kid?"

She glanced over her shoulder at him and caught his smile. "Avoid Pop Tarts, I think the same ones have been in there since I was a rookie."

Riley gave him a small smile and then headed toward the break room.

Sharon Raydor had put away a killer for life in less than forty-eight hours. Even if it wasn't for the crimes he committed, it was still efficient. If Provenza had a problem with that he could turn in his badge or get over it.

Fritz had come by to pick up all of Brenda's sweets that she kept in her drawer, but he also casually mention Brenda was curious about her plans for Rusty and Riley.

Raydor looked through the glass at the two kids sitting at a desk. Rusty was leaning back in the chair as Riley sat on the desk next to him. Rile held a bag of Cheese-Its in her hand and kept tossing them into the air, skillfully catching them in her mouth.

Then she looked over at her brother and watched him attempt to do the same. Raydor smirked as Rusty attempted to catch the cracker, nearly knocking his chair over backward in the process, only to be saved by his barely younger sister.

They really did need to stay together. Separating them would just make things worse for both of them. Sharon Raydor took a deep breath as she realized what she had to do.

Opening the door she grabbed both of the backpacks that had been brought to her house. Everything in the world these two own was able to fit into a backpack each. Riley immediately hops off the desk and for some reason hides her crackers when Raydor makes her appearance.

"Come on, you two are going with me," she said decidedly, watching the two teenagers exchange confused looks.

They moved toward her, each of them taking their own bag then allowed the woman to lead to her car.

"Where are you taking us?" Riley asked nervously. "Please don't take me back to that place, Captain. Please."

Rusty gave his sister a nervous look, not used to her sounding so afraid. Normally if she was afraid, she was more directly worried about Rusty. Usually fear was a snippy anger for her too, but this time she seemed like a little kid.

"You two are going to stay with me," she replied managing to stun both teenagers to silence. A skill many people wish they could have sometimes.

Rusty and Riley stuck very close to each other as they entered the well furnished and expensive looking condo. As usual, Riley stayed where they was easy and direct access to the door as Rusty stared to play with his bag.

"Do think we're going to be all like thankful for you taking us in and all," Rusty grumbled as Riley rolled her eyes.

"Speak for yourself," she muttered wrapping her arms around her shoulders and glancing toward the door.

Captain Raydor seemed to find this funny. "Oh, trust me. You're not the first adolescent to grace my home with your presence," she continued as she poured herself a glass of wine in the kitchen. Rusty rolled his eyes and made a sort of face at Riley who just made a similar face in return. "Having raised two teenagers of my own I have tremendous capacity for ingratitude." She reappeared with a glass of white wine. "It's funny, as soon as you get good at being a mom, you're fired."

Rusty shrugged. "Or you quit."

Riley kept her eyes toward the door. "That would imply that she was a good mother, which she wasn't, Rusty."

Sharon Raydor watched the pain between these two kids and what they had been through. They were very protective of each other, but in different ways. Rusty would fight tooth and nail for his sister, while his sister would protect him from himself by keeping him from fighting. They were both very self sacrificing when it came to each other, which probably came from a life of watching each other get hurt.

"So," Rusty began, breaking the awkward silence and earning the captain's attention again. "What are we supposed to call each other, anyway?"

Thinking on this, she moved to the chair across from them. "Oh... I think... you should call me Captain Raydor."

Rusty obviously found this too impersonal while Riley accepted it. "Fine, you can call me Mr. Beck," Rusty countered with a certain amount of attitude.

"You are the child in this relationship," Raydor fired back with raised eyebrows. Truthfully, she was already expecting this and was more curious about who would fight her with the formalities. It didn't surprise her at all when it was Rusty and Riley was silent in the background.

"No, I am the witness. If you are the police officer, then I am the witness."

Raydor caught a glimpse of Riley's proud smirk even though she was almost completely turned the other way.

"There are not a lot of people around here who call me by my first name," Raydor replied calmly watching both children react.

"Oh maybe that's why you live alone with two spare bedrooms," Rusty shot back earning him an elbow in the rib cage from his sister who also found it a good time to glare at her brother.

"She's letting both of us stay here," she hissed. "I don't care if she tells us to call her Captain Kangaroo! We _should_ be thankful."

Raydor broke in, hiding the tinge of hurt the boy managed to inflict with his words. "I live alone because my children are grown. Spare bedrooms are for when they visit." Riley continued glaring at her brother as Raydor continued. "But, you may call me Sharon."

Suddenly both of their eyes were on her. Two sets of intense blue eyes stared her over as the name came out of her mouth.

"How's that?" Captain Raydor offered with a hard smile.

"Sharon?" Riley nearly whispered as she looked at the dark haired woman holding her wine glass and watching both of them through her glasses.

"Mm-hmm."

"What is that, your bad idea of a joke or something?" Rusty grumbled pushing his bag on to the floor and suddenly seeming more hurt.

Raydor tilted her head in confusion. "Why do you say that?"

"That's our mother's name," Riley said incredulously as the woman's ignorance. "Sharon is our mother's name!"

Seeing the surprise register on her face, Rusty felt a spark ignite in his gut. "You haven't been looking for her at all, have you?"

Another guilty look came over Sharon Raydor's features. "Rusty, I just got this job yesterday. Give me a chance to catch up." It sounded like a plea and an apology, something no one was use to hearing. "I am making a good-faith effort, I am."

Rusty suddenly stood up and grabbed his back, reaching for his crutches. "Where's your bathroom?"

Raydor motioned toward the door at the end of the hall. "It's right there, but Rusty, if it is possible to find your mother, I will do it. I promise."

Rusty was already trying to get away as he shook his head. "Sure you will, _captain_. Sure you will."

Captain Raydor looked down at Riley as she reached into her bag and pulled out a ratty looking stuffed animal. She held it over her chest and inhaled the scent of its head. Raydor took a seat beside Riley and noticed that the girl didn't shy away from her as Flynn had mentioned the girl doing earlier with him.

"I really am sorry, I just haven't had time to catch up with everything thing," Raydor tried watching the girl hold tight to the stuffed animal and nod.

"It's alright," Riley replied, looking up at the Captain. "May I please go to bed?"

There were signs of tears building in Riley's eyes and Raydor couldn't say no. The girl held the stuffed animal tight as she snatched up her backpack and disappeared into one of the guest bedrooms.

Tossing herself against the back of the couch Captain Sharon Raydor closed her eyes and reached for one of the throw pillows. It was less than half an hour in and Sharon Raydor had already let the two kids down.

_I have a lot of plans for this story, but I'd like to know what you think. _


	2. Home

Rusty had made a point to fight Captain Raydor every step of the way, but Riley was much more laid back. She kept to herself, speaking minimally to anyone who wasn't her brother. She would exchange pleasantries to Captain Raydor at breakfast, even apologize for her brother's behavior at times.

As Rusty made a slob of himself in Raydor's den, Riley just watched with a small frown. She

was tired of all the fighting. She never knew a time where there wasn't an almost constant screaming match happening somewhere. One thing that Riley liked about Raydor was that yelling was a last resort, but she could feel it coming along quickly.

As they entered the condo after what Riley had realized must have been a long day for Captain Raydor, Rusty went to the kitchen to make himself a sandwich while Raydor grabbed something out of the closet and stomped to the mess covering her coffee table and couch.

Riley couldn't help but smirk as Captain Raydor started throwing the mess into the box with aggravated force.

"Hey!" Rusty appeared from the kitchen staring at Raydor incredulously. "Hey! What are you doing? I still need those to study for that stupid school."

And the war began.

Riley watched as Rusty continued to throw his verbal punches, and Riley fully expected for Captain Raydor to throw them back, but she wasn't expecting the finishing blow to be so harsh. Rusty had pushed buttons, made threats about leaving, even though they were empty threats, and he had been nothing but hateful. Still, what Sharon Raydor said to the boy hurt him more than she would have ever meant to.

"You're not my mother!" Rusty snapped yanking his stuff away from Raydor and glaring at her as Riley watched from the doorway of her guest bedroom.

"Right. I'm not your mother. How do we know that? Because I am here!"

Sharon couldn't keep the words from tumbling out of her mouth leaving everyone in the room stunned to silence. Rusty looked like he had taken a physical hit and Riley, still standing in the doorway, looked like she wanted to disappear.

What Sharon truly thought about the twin's mother finally was painfully obvious. How could a person leave two kids behind like they were nothing? How could a mother leave her children for someone else to raise? Sharon Raydor could never imagine doing anything close to her kids, no matter the reason.

Still, she didn't want the words to come out. She didn't want to rub it in the twin's faces that their mother was nowhere to be seen so they were stuck with her. And that was that.

"I'm here, and your mother is not," Sharon continued, this time softer and much more away of the fragile teenagers watching her every move. "And you're going to have to try and make the best of it."

Rusty glared at the woman in front of him, yanked his possessions away from her and stormed toward Riley's room. Riley on the other hand just stepped out of the way for her brother and looked up at Sharon for a long moment. It was a look of disappointment and betrayal. The teenager that usually acted and seemed like a young, strong woman, looked like a wounded child. That was because of Sharon and she knew it.

Rusty was an open book when it came to his emotions, and didn't hide his dislike for Captain Raydor. But Riley wanted to trust Raydor. Riley wanted to believe that they were safe with her and no one was going to hurt them, but Rile may have taken a step in the opposite direction now.

It was already obvious that these kids wanted to keep her at arm's length but Sharon was almost that Riley would come around first. At that moment, Sharon realized that Riley may be even more complex than her brother and earning her trust would not be easy.

Finally, the girl disappeared into the room behind her brother, leaving Sharon alone to her own guilt and thoughts.

Riley and Rusty both sat in silence on the bed. Rusty didn't say a word, and he didn't have to. Riley could almost feel how miserable he was but at the same time he knew better that to outright go off about what Raydor had just said to him. He knew that Riley would remind him that he had been pushing the line for a long time and eventually people snap. Even when Riley was hurt, she was still extremely empathetic.

So instead, Riley moved over to her brother and wrapped her arms around him as she rested her head on his shoulder. Neither actually saw the other cry, and neither would admit they cried at all, but there were definitely a few tears shed in that room.

"Why are you such a pain in the ass to Captain Raydor?" Riley asked her brother almost an hour later as they broke out a chess board Riley had found in the closet.

"Better question, why are you nice to her?" Rusty countered as he made his first move.

"She tries, which is more than Mom ever did," Riley replied calmly making her own move. "You're the one who's not trying. You asked if someone actually married her for God's sake."

Rusty ignored the latter half of Riley's comments. "Mom tried, you just never appreciated it."

Riley rolled her eyes. "No. Mom let what's his face beat to a pulp." She shivered at the memory of the man. She hated him.

Rusty took one of her pawns with his knight and she countered with taking the knight with her bishop. "Do you want Mom back though? Really?" Rusty asked his sister, not looking up at her face.

Riley watched him take another pawn and corner her own knight. "If it could be the way things were two year ago, sure. I want Mom, just Mom though."

Rusty understood what his sister meant, but they played their game in silence for several more minutes. They had been studying together for that stupid Catholic school Captain Raydor wanted them to go to, but Riley seemed to make it harder for Rusty to rebel. She'd talk him out of his over the top fights when he was aggravated with a stupid rule and played peace keeper.

Most nights, Riley would sit up in her bed and read with flashlight from her backpack. She would turn off her flashlight every night the moment she heard Captain Raydor's bedroom door open to check on the both of them.

Still, that night, Rusty had fallen asleep on Riley's floor while they were talking about home and how Riley hated chess, and not just because she lost either. It was just after five thirty when Sharon Raydor opened the door to the bedroom to find both of them. It was definitely easier to wake up Riley first and then Rusty.

Sharon smiled at the two of them before quietly going over and softly touching Riley's shoulder, shaking her awake.

"Riley, you and Rusty are going to have to come to the hospital with me," Raydor told the girl softly.

"Hospital?" she repeated sleepily. "Is everything okay?"

"It's a case and I can't leave you two here," Raydor explained unable to keep herself from gently pushing a stray strand of sandy brown hair off the girl's face.

Riley yawned and stretched as she sat up. "Okay, I'll wake Rusty though." The girl gave Raydor a sympathetic look. "He's even worse in the mornings, ya know."

Raydor had realized that even if Riley was friendlier than Rusty, she was more of a mystery. She was polite, but preferred to watch from a distance and always glancing at the door for a quick getaway. There was a very clear protectiveness Riley had for her brother, but most of the time it was protect him from himself.

Raydor knew full and well what Rusty was doing that night he was taken into custody for the first time, but she found it a little odd that no one asked what Riley was going through. The girl had been in her home for over a week and she felt perfectly content staying in the background and avoiding attention.

"I know," she replied giving the girl a small smile, but she couldn't help but study the small girl's body as she crawled out of her bed. It was the first time Sharon had seen the girl without her baggy hoodie around her or in shorts at all.

She had scars up her arms, on particularly large on the inside of her right forearm that looked suspiciously like a burn, but she also noticed bruising around her biceps. and one toward the back of her neck.

There was a part of Sharon Raydor that wanted to ask, but the rest of her knew better. Riley wouldn't answer anyway and only pull away more than she already liked to stay. Before Raydor could get a better look, Riley was pulling on her jacket and digging through a drawer she had finally decided to move into.

Raydor suddenly felt like she was imposing and excused herself just in time to hear the twins begin a semi normal routine of bickering in the morning.

As they climbed into Raydor's car, Riley took the back seat letting her brother have the passenger seat in front. She had her headphones in her ears but didn't have music playing as she kept her gaze out the window. It was well before rush hour and they could make it to the hospital in no time, but Rusty was already bickering.

"I shouldn't have to be dragged everywhere you go, I'm not a child," Rusty growled at Sharon as they headed down the road.

"Rusty, you're in emergency cu-" she tried only for Rusty to roll his eyes and cross his arms.

"Emergency custody, I know I know."

Sharon glanced into the rearview mirror to see Riley in her own world absently drumming her fingers along the door handle. At the same time Sharon had received the call about their mother. They thought it was possible they had found her, they were just waiting for the identification confirmation.

After the fight last night it felt like maybe Sharon should be glad they were leaving, but she hated the idea that they would be handed back the woman that dumped them on the street. People didn't deserve second chances like that.

Riley had fallen asleep before they had even gotten to the hospital and was even quieter when she was tired. Rusty on the other hand was not.

Rusty wanted to pick a fight the moment Raydor started to catch up on the case. He opened his mouth to say something, but Riley glared at him. "I swear if you start griping this early in the morning you'll get send down a couple floor to the ER for what I'll do to you."

Flynn glanced past Raydor and smirked at the twins glaring at each other. "Quit acting all high and mighty," Rusty snapped at her. "You don't like it that you got dragged here either."

"But bitching about it won't change it," Riley reminded him closing her eyes and sinking down deeper into the chair. The conversation was over when she hit play on her iPod, getting the last word.

Sanchez, Flynn, and Raydor all exchanged glances as Rusty sunk down in the seat next to his sister and closed his eyes. He didn't look happy about it, but he knew she had a point.

"Well," Flynn said with a bit of a shrug. "I can tell you which one I like."

Raydor gave him a glare, but Rusty piped up. "You only like her because she doesn't talk to you. She doesn't talk to guys at all." The last bit was meant to be a dive at his sister, and it worked as she stared at him with daggers.

No, she didn't like talking to men but that was her own business and it wasn't fair of him to point it out to other people. Still, Riley knew better than to toss anything back, it would only make things worse.

It was almost two hours later when Raydor was gently waking up the twins. She was giving them a smile that immediately told them that there was good news about something. "Your Mom's on the phone."

Rusty jerked the phone out of her hand eagerly as Riley stared at the captain. Rusty was beside himself with happiness, but Riley looked...

"Yeah, Riley's right here with me! You wanna talk to her?" Rusty started to hand the phone to Riley but she shoved it back at him shaking her head as she pushed herself out of the chair and headed down the hallway.

Flynn looked up at the captain who watched at the girl disappeared into the bathroom.

It was easiest to give her space, but Rusty didn't really seemed phased by it. He honestly thought that Riley would just come around.

And she did. She was hesitant until the call saying that she was getting on the final bus to LA. That was when Captain Raydor saw the bleakest hint of the same hope her brother had held the entire time.

Flynn and Rusty waited by the bus stop with Riley. Rusty kept looking over at Riley expectantly, and his excitement was contagious to her.

"That's the bus!" Rusty exclaimed, pointing to it then grabbing his sister's shoulders. She laughed with him, feeling as giddy as he was. "That's Mom's bus!"

The clasped hands as they jumped up to look. Together they watched, staying close to Flynn as people walked out of the bus. But as the flow of people slowed, their hearts sank into their guts.

Flynn asked the driver if he had seen Sharon Beck, showing her a picture of the twin's mother as their hands slipped away from each other and fell to their sides. They were already trembling.

"Got off in Bakersfield, I think... Yeah, some guy picked her up."

Riley knew it. She was right, but even though she was right, she wished she wasn't. Their mother didn't want them anymore. Their mother would always choose something else over them.

Tears were building in her eyes as she willed herself not to cry.

"Where's your brother?" Flynn asked her, suddenly pulling her out of her daze.

Blinking at him, she realized that her brother wasn't standing next to her anymore. Panic pulsed through her as more tears built in her eyes. "Rusty?" she called, the urgency so evident in her voice pedestrians turned around to look at her. "Rusty!"

They searched for over an hour before Flynn finally decided to take her back to station, despite the girl's protest. She wasn't crying, Flynn noticed, but she was barely holding it together. He called Raydor once, but it almost immediately went to voicemail.

Riley curled into a chair in Raydor's office, not allowing Flynn or anyone else to follow her in there. The lights were turned off and the blinds were closed, but Flynn felt like the poor girl didn't need to be alone. Still, Rusty wasn't kidding when he said that Riley didn't talk to men. In fact it was overly obvious she didn't trust men either.

He tried calling Raydor again, even though the first phone call went to voicemail. There was no one in the office that could get within ten feet of the girl and Rusty was still missing. They had every free officer looking for him already, but Sharon Raydor needed to know.

Thank God she picked up the second phone call. The moment she picked up Flynn said screw to the pleasantries. "Sharon Beck wasn't on the bus, Rusty ran off and Riley won't talk to anyone or let anyone near her."

The information hit Captain Raydor like a ton of bricks. _"What? What do you mean Rusty ran off? Ran off where? Where's Riley?"_

"He just ran. Riley and I looked for him for an hour and I have officers looking for him," Flynn swallowed at he looked into the glass at the darkened room that Riley was hiding in. "Riley's in pretty rough shape too."

_"I'll be there in ten."_

Well ten ended up closer to seven and even Sharon Raydor may have bent a few rules to get back to the station. The entire drive her heart was pounding and she was screaming at herself for letting the kids get their hopes up, she was screaming at herself for actually finding the woman and letting the kids know she was on her way without waiting for her to get there.

Flynn was waiting at the elevator for her as she stormed out of it. "Riley's in your office and we're all waiting by the phones for a call about Rusty."

Sharon looked toward her darkened office and took a deep breath. They were wounded, someone had hurt both of the kids badly and she wasn't sure what to expect when she walked into that office. But they needed someone who wasn't going to walk away from them.

They needed her.

As she opened the door, the only light on in her office was the small lamp on her desk, but even with the poor light she could see the tears in the sad blue eyes that looked up at her.

"I thought she was really going to come," Riley said tearfully as Sharon inched closer to her. "I was going to tell her and Rusty sorry for doubting them. I know I acted like I didn't want her, but she's still my mom."

The hurt made Riley choke on her tears as she looked up at Sharon Raydor. "I don't want her back anymore."

Suddenly a small body rushed forward and threw itself into Raydor's arms. "But I want my brother back."

Raydor wrapped her arms around the little body that cried into her chest and held her just as tight as Riley held onto her. Neither know how long they stand there as Riley finds comfort in her brother's enemy, but Riley wasn't giving up the first place she felt safe in years.

As Riley slowly pulled away, Sharon gently wiped the girl's tears with a swipe of her thumb and gave her a brave smile. Riley looked desperately at Sharon. "I know Rusty isn't very nice to you, and I know I haven't exactly been kind either, and I'm sorry, I really am. Please, find him though. He's still my brother."

Sharon looked back at the girl smoothed a bit of her hair. "We are going to find him, Riley.

"I just can't believe he left me," she muttered, folding her arms around herself and not meeting the captain's eyes. They had been through hell and back together, but the moment they really could have used each other, Rusty left her standing there alone.

Sharon saw that this was definitely a contributing factor to the hurt the girl was going through.

"Let's get you back to my place so you can try and get some sleep. Everyone possible is out looking for Rusty and I guarantee we will be the first call," she offered the girl, reaching out to her again.

Riley looks torn but agrees.

Sharon walks with Riley clinging to her side. Her tears died down but her face still puffy and red. Provenza and looks at the girl who his boss holds protectively close. He doesn't question her when she moves toward the elevator, holding up her phone to let him know to call her the minute they hear anything.

But he also saw something he wished he didn't. The tough, the strong, the woman he really didn't like very much was barely holding back her own tears. He looked over at Flynn who seemed to feel just as bad for the woman. They weren't going to leave until Rusty was back with his sister and Sharon Raydor could sleep.

Rusty walked more blocks than he could count. Tears rolling down his cheeks even though he tried to wipe them away quickly. He kept walking aimlessly until his tears stopped rolling and he could catch his breath.

Well, he thought he was walking aimlessly. Somehow he managed to end up less than a block away from Sharon's condo. He wiped his eyes and took a deep breath before decidedly moving toward the condo in which he had keys to.

Once inside, he sulked into his room, but not before noticing his sister's stuffed animal sitting on the couch waiting for her. That poor cat had been with Riley for as long as either of them could remember, but they never really knew where it came from. It was the only constant that they ever had, except for each other.

He plucked it off the couch and looked at it for a long moment. Maybe he was wrong, maybe this is what he and Riley needed. Maybe Sharon could be a new constant. Maybe they would be okay if he would just start complying to the small demands Sharon was asking of him. Maybe they would be alright.

Still holding his sister's ratty love, he moved toward the kitchen. Riley's papers for the Catholic school Raydor wanted them to attend was in the middle of the counter, waiting to get turned in and let them have a second chance at something real. They were being given opportunities that they never thought possible and instead of embracing it, Rusty had been fighting it.

Grabbing a pen, Rusty headed back to his room, dropping Riley's stuffed pet on the couch as he went. He'd finish the paperwork for that school. He'd start trying a little more.

About forty-five minutes later, he heard the door shut and Raydor gently instruct Riley to go to bed. As usual, there wasn't an argument from his little sister, just goodnight and the sound of a door shutting behind her.

He hurried to finish the finale page of paperwork and quietly exited his room to find Sharon. She was pouring herself a glass of white wine when he entered the kitchen.

"You guys are home late," he commented, watching as Sharon nearly spilt the wine or dropped her glass, barely saving herself from doing either.

She couldn't face him immediately, she had come too close to letting her emotions out now that she was finally alone and it took her a moment to reel them all back in.

"I-I was wrapping up a case and I had to get your sister from the office..." Her voice sounded different to Rusty's ears as she struggled to make eye contact. "Rusty, I'm sorry about your-"

He shook his head and shrugged. "Don't talk about, please."

Riley had came back out of her room when she realized that she had left Kitty on the couch earlier this morning. When she saw Rusty and Raydor standing there, she didn't move. Instead she watched to see what was going to happen.

"She lied to us. Riley didn't want to believe her, but I did and that will never happen again," Rusty said simply. Raydor opened her mouth to add something but Rusty shook his head. "I really don't wanna talk about it. Please."

This time the captain nodded. "Okay, but I have a one question to ask you and I need you to answer the question truthfully." Rusty just kept looking at her, waiting for her to continue. "Why did you run away from Lieutenant Flynn?"

It was hard for Rusty to look Sharon Raydor. "I don't cry in front of people," he replied, struggling with his own shame.

It was most definitely honest and something Sharon could whole heartedly relate to.

"And I started to cry. So I left. I figured since Riley stayed you all knew I wouldn't just leave forever."

Sharon nodded and accepted his answer.

"How much money exactly did she steal from everyone?" Rusty asked, already intending of paying for his mother's mistake.

But Sharon shook her head. "Don't worry about it. We can.. we have it cover by, um, our bosses."

It was a lie, but a solid enough one to get past Rusty's ears. Eager to change the subject Sharon nodded at the papers Rusty was clutching. "What's that?"

"Oh, I was behind on filling out these form for school... you said you needed them by tomorrow and you already had Riley's." Rusty fiddled with them. "Do you still want them?"

"Yes, I do." Sharon took the papers and Rusty took this as an opportunity to escape.

As he turned around he saw his sister standing in her bedroom doorway. Still, Sharon wasn't done. As she rounded the corner she noticed that Riley was running toward her brother hugging him tightly.

Sharon stayed silent as the siblings had their moment and both of them looked over at her with quiet relief. "Your mother is the one who's losing out here," she told them. "Nothing she's done has a thing to do with either of you. I hope you both know that."

Rusty and Riley both took a moment to let that sink in. "I thought she loved us," Rusty replied, obviously hurt. Riley looked at her brother and squeezed his head. "And letting go of that is what's hard."

"But holding on to someone when they're gone is even harder." Sharon's words were a lot of truth that hit both of the twins hard. She was right.

"Thanks for trying..." Riley whispered, her eyes dropping to the floor.

"To bring her back," Rusty finished for her this time squeezing his sister's hand to comfort her.

Sharon looked like she wanted to say something else, but Rusty spun on his heels toward his bedroom, leaving Riley just standing there. She grabbed her raggedy looking cat off the couch and headed toward her own room, but she stopped in the doorway.

"Thank you," a very small voice said though the girl wouldn't look at her. "Really."

Sharon smiled a little. "You're welcome."

Riley disappeared into her room, gently closing the door behind her.

The smile was impossible for Sharon to rid herself of as she pulled out her cell phone. As she made the call it was answered on the first ring.

_"Provenza."_

"Lieutenant Provenza, thank you for picking up so quickly. Uh..." She cleared her throat as she found her professional side again and took a deep breath. "You can tell the department to stand down. When we came in the door, Rusty was here so..."

_"That's great. The kid's home. Both of them, right?" _Provenza asked as Sharon felt emotion knotting in her throat again.

"Yes-I-uh..." Sharon cleared her throat again. "Rusty and Riley are home." She swallowed hard. "Thank you."

With that she hung up the phone and walked back into her kitchen. They were home.

Rusty and Riley were home.

_**Please let me know what you think! **_


	3. Let's Make a Deal

First days of school suck. First days of a new school _really _sucks, especially in high school and especially when it's twins. But what really sucks, what sucks more than getting up at five-thirty in the morning to get dragged to a crime scene before going to a new school was being asked about what you did over summer vacation when you're being a whore was not allowed to be discussed.

As usual, while was unable to find her voice but Rusty on the hand was silent. He bluntly told them that he was a prime witness to put away a serial killer. Riley sucked in a hard breath as she rubbed her hands over her face.

Thank God they were saved by the bell. Riley nearly drug her brother out of the school building and around the corner. "What the hell was that?" she snapped at her brother.

"I was being honest! Sharon said-"

"Sharon said try and get along. You didn't try!" Riley struggled to keep her voice down.

Rusty rolled his eyes and Riley's temper only burned hotter. Before she could say anything else, a group of boys appeared in her view. She fell silent and Rusty spun around.

"Well, well, if it's not the twins," the biggest of the boys. Alex. That was his name. He was in the class with them. All the boys standing in front of them had been in the class. Alex, Peter and Luke. Two out of three had fairly Catholic names.

"What do you want?" Rusty snapped, already feeling that this was not going to end well. They had gone to enough schools to recognize a bully when they saw one.

"Going to put away a serial killer, huh?" Luke mocked giving them a smirk. Rusty moved protectively in front of Riley, but Riley refused to be protect and stood beside him instead.

Luke then turned his attention to Riley. He took her in, looking at every inch of her obviously making her uncomfortable. Still, the good stood her ground as Alex gave Rusty a shove backward against the wall.

"Let me give your first lesson from the catechism," Alex mocked as Peter laughed. "Liars go to hell."

Luke grabbed Riley's hand and spun her around. "I may go to hell for what I could do to this one."

Riley shoved him off of her. To be honest, Riley didn't see the first punch, but the second punch definitely didn't come from Rusty as he hit the ground. She instinctively put herself between her brother and the Alex as he reared back to throw another punch.

"Leave him alone!" she demanded, realizing that the smallest of the boys had at least fifty pounds on her and twenty on Rusty.

She hit the ground hard, but she didn't see which one did it. Luke was holding her by the hair as she tried to get away from him. Her elbow made contact with his chest and she pushed off of him.

"Get off her!" Rusty snapped as Luke grabbed Riley again.

Rusty grabbed one of the boy's heads and slammed it into the brick of the building then nailed the other boy in the nose with the back of his head. Then he lunged for Luke, tackling him off of Riley and landing on his chest.

Rusty just kept swinging. Hitting the boy in the face over and over again, until he felt someone pull him off.

Together, Riley and Rusty were marched to the principal's office where no one wanted to hear their side of the story. No one. Not even the damn priest that ended up being their principal. From there they were stuffed into Father Authority's Prius and driven to the Major Crime's office.

"I'm really starting to hate Catholic's," Riley muttered to her brother as they watched Sharon be informed of their presence. She did not seem impressed.

"You and me both."

Before Sharon could even close the door to her office, Father announce that his reason for being there was Rusty's fighting. Sharon held the door and looked over at Riley. "And why is Riley here too? If Rusty was fighting why is Riley in this meeting?"

Father looked over at Sharon, but failed to have an answer.

"Perhaps because I'm a witness?" Riley offered for him, making it obvious she really didn't like the priest.

"Alright. Then you wait in the break room," Sharon said with finality.

"What?" Riley and Rusty asked in unison.

Sharon gave them both a look. "As a witness you will be interviewed separately from the suspect."

Both of them rolled their eyes, but Riley stomped out of the room. She was pissed. She stormed out of Sharon' office, catching the attention of Flynn and Provenza as they stood in the murder room, well aware that at least one of the twins was in a whole lot of trouble. They were fairly used to Rusty's temper tantrums, but Riley was usually more laid back. To see her so bluntly furious.

"Should-should we check on her?" Provenza asked Flynn. "She looked pretty upset."

"Think the captain's the cause?" Flynn questioned still looking in the direction Riley stormed off.

"Normally I would say the captain has that affect on people, but Riley usually isn't bothered by her." Provenza normally would stay out of their business but there was something on Riley's face that made him want to pry, well at least check on her.

"Let's go," Flynn decidedly.

Riley was sitting at the tale in the break room, her arms wrapped around her knees. She wasn't crying but she looked like she wanted to. Flynn knocked on the door and opened it.

Riley didn't talk to them almost ever, but in the more recent weeks she would offer them a smile and a wave as they entered behind Sharon. It wasn't much, but Sharon knew they girl held a soft spot for both of them. She would actually stop her music _and_ take out her headphones when Flynn would talk to Rusty and she always tried to hide her smile when Provenza went off on one of his rants.

While Rusty was quick to complain about the team, Riley was silently admiring them. She found that each of them had a unique personality and skill. The only one she really couldn't say that she cared for was Sykes; she didn't like people who didn't have their own opinion.

Still, as Flynn and Provenza entered the break room, Riley had her headphones in her ears and her fingers moving as though she was playing an instrument. As she looked up at the two men in the room, she thought for a moment before removing her headphones.

"So," Provenza started first, taking a seat across from her at the table. "What happened in school today?"

Riley shrugged a little. "Rusty got into a fight."

Flynn raised an eyebrow at the girl. "Rusty got into a fight and you're _this _upset." She shrugged again. "Why don't you tell us what happened?"

"Did Sharon send you in here to interview me or something? I figured she'd want to do it herself," Riley questioned, her voice held more of a soft, unsure nature that Rusty's ever had.

"No, you just looked upset," Flynn replied noticing it was difficult for her to make eye contact with either of them.

She shifted uncomfortably and kept her eyes down. "I was mad at Rusty for telling the class about the murder trial and I told him that Sharon asked us to try but he's not trying. Then these boys start giving up trouble and start shoving Rusty around but this other one kept- he um- he-" Riley rubbed her wrists where he had grabbed her, and both lieutenants had been doing their jobs long enough they recognized the motion.

"He grabbed you?" Flynn offered, hiding the fact his blood was boiling.

Riley barely looked up at him and nodded. "And he kept saying stuff and they were pushing Rusty around and he was pulling me around and I don't know who threw the first punch but Luke wouldn't let go of me and he kept laughing at Rusty and then the other boy pushed me and Rusty hit him and Luke wouldn't let go of my hair..."

Her tears were barely at bay as she her breathing quickened. Suddenly her eyes were pleading to both of them. "Rusty wouldn't have hurt them so badly if Luke would've just left me alone. It's not Rusty's fault, I should've been able to get away. Please tell Sharon that."

Provenza looked at the girl in front of him and patted her hand that laid on the table. "Don't worry. We'll talk to her."

Riley looked honestly surprised like she didn't expect him to say yes. But then she nodded. "Thank- thank you."

"Don't worry kid," Flynn said standing up and moving toward the door. "We take care of our own."

Riley just watched as both of them left her alone in the room. For the first time in a long time, she felt protected by someone that wasn't her brother. She felt so safe, in fact, she almost wanted to tell them something else, but she was still too afraid.

Raydor stormed out of her office, on her way to see Riley when Flynn and Provenza stopped her in the hallway.

"Captain!" Flynn called, jogging some to catch up with her.

"I'm sorry lieutenant, can it wait? I have to deal with-" she began only for him to cut her off.

"It's about Riley and Rusty."

At that, Sharon stopped and looked at them. Part of her wanted to ask what they did this time, but Flynn's face held concern not anger. He had her full attention.

"Provenza and I went to check on Riley and she told us what happened. The other boys started the fight." The look on Sharon's face told him that she knew this already. "And one boy, Luke, was going after Riley."

That she didn't know. She was very surprised and the anger that was burning her up inside was directed elsewhere. Rusty still shouldn't have done what he did, but he was trying to protect his sister which does make it a bit better.

"Thank you, Lieutenant, but I still need to talk to Riley." She turned around and started moving toward the break room again when Flynn called out to her again.

"Captain, wait." She turned around and looked at him expectantly, but instead of conversing in the murder room, he pulled her aside in the empty hallway. He looked a bit more concerned and self conscious now. "Do you know much about Riley's history?"

The question caught her off guard. "Not much. I know less about her than I do about Rusty, but I assume their history is fairly similar."

Flynn nodded but looked down the hallway toward the break room. "I've been doing this job for a long time and you start to see patterns of behavior with certain victims," Flynn looked back at Captain Raydor, "and Riley had sexual assault or child molestation written all over her."

This was not news to Sharon at all. She had seen the signs as plainly as he had, but Riley was still so scared by the world around her. Sharon was not about to force her to open up to open up about her past until she was ready.

"I know," Sharon sighed. "But I honestly don't know if it's because she held a similar profession as Rusty last summer or if it's something else. Either way, Riley is very fragile, perhaps more fragile than Rusty, and trying to pry her open may not be for the best."

Flynn understood. "I just worry about the kid. Both of them."

Sharon smiled a little bit at that. "They're good kids."

Flynn nodded and left Sharon to her parenting.

As Sharon entered the room, big blue eyes filled with shame met hers and she immediately felt more like hugging the girl than questioning her. Sharon already knew what happened now and there was no reason to put Riley through it again. Rusty hit those boys hard enough to put them into the infirmary, even giving on boy a concussion because of Riley.

They were protective of each other and Raydor couldn't really find it in her to be as angry as she was ten minutes ago. As she looked over at the girl, she held the door open. "Let's go."

Riley shuffled to her feet, clumsily knocking the book that was in front of her to the floor. She scurried to pick up the book Sharon could assume was a journal. As she gathered it back in her hands and shoved it into her backpack, the blue eyes met Sharon's again.

"I'm sorry," Riley told her softly.

Sharon looked at her. "Why are you sorry?"

Riley looked conflicted for a moment then let her gaze fall to the floor. "Because we're a burden."

Sharon shook her head and let go of the door to move closer to Riley. "You are not burdens. You are children. Never apologize for that."

Without looking up, Riley nodded and wiped her eyes.

"I mean it, Riley. Life has not been fair to you or your brother and all I ask is that you try and you are. Your bother is a little bit more stubborn, but he's coming around."

Riley nodded again and looked up at Sharon. "He doesn't mean what he says a lot of the time. He just gets mad."

As usual, Riley defends her brother to the death. That was something Sharon wished her own kids did more often. "I know, but he needs to learn to be civil."

There was no argument from Riley for that. "Why don't you go back to my office and stay with your brother? I've got some work to do here."

There was no argument from Riley, just a nod as she headed for the direction of the office.

They were good kids.

Riley was sitting on the floor with her back against the couch as Cynthia did paper work in the kitchen and Rusty flipping through the TV channels.

"We've never had a baby sitter before and now we're sixteen with one," Rusty muttered as he slid down on the floor next to his sister.

"It's not like she wants to play Barbie's with us," Riley replied numbly. "Why don't you try and be nice instead of treating everyone like they're the enemy?"

Rusty rolled his eyes. "Why do you treat everyone like they're your friend? They're not."

Riley put down the book she was holding and crossed her arms. "I'm tired of you being an ass. I'm tired of you parading around with 'woe me' plastered on your face. I don't have to sit here; you're the one in emergency care, _not me_."

Rusty glared at her. "Then leave. Go ahead. Show me just how much you're like mom."

Fire sparked in Riley's eyes as she shook her head. "Do not try that on me. I won't be manipulated by you. We have been by each other through hell, and when we finally end up in a place where we could breathe, you do everything possible to ruin it."

Before Rusty could fire back a comeback, Riley held up her hand and got to her feet. "Save it. I like it here. I like Sharon, I like Flynn and Provenza. I like the fact I can sleep peacefully a night and I like that we're going to a school that could put us on the right track to a college that will make our lives something. So what if it doesn't last forever? Be glad we have it right now!"

All he could do was watch as Riley stormed off into her bedroom and shut the door behind her. Maybe she was right, but Rusty was too stubborn to ever admit it to her.

As Sharon came in later that night and Cynthia left, the twins were back to sitting together, but Sharon could sense the tension.

Immediately, Sharon changed into more comfortable clothes and went to the kitchen to make herself a sandwich. She could see the twins quietly begin an argument with Riley giving her brother a gentle shove and they both approached the counter.

"I wanted to apologize," Rusty said finally. "I mean, for being so rude to you."

He didn't say today or give specific instance, because he was more often rude to her than he was friendly to her. There was a proud smile on Riley's face as the words exited her brother's mouth. Then she looked up at Sharon as if t say, _See? We can be good. Please don't send us away._

"I guess I knew that talking about the trial was going to cause trouble and I did it anyway, but all these kids were going on about their families and their thousand dollar vacations..." Rusty explained.

The look on Riley's face told Sharon wasn't exactly the easiest thing for either of them to hear. They didn't want to hear about other people's great lives, it was like being reminded how much they've missed out on.

"You can't blame the other kids because their lives have been easier," Sharon told both of them gently.

"But it's like they've all had these picket-fenced childhoods," Riley explained sounding upset. "All of them are rich and have moms and dads that buy them whatever they want."

Sharon gave her a gentle but stern look. "I'm sure that's not true for all of them."

"It feels true," the girl muttered back.

"Every school I send you to will come with challenges, Riley, but you'll have to overcome them." Sharon turned her attention to Rusty. "The new boy is always the target and I bet it's going to be a long time before anyone thinks to mess with you, or your sister again."

"But we don't belong there," Rusty pressed. "Riley and I aren't Catholic kids from some high society. We're foster kids from nowhere."

"Right now, you'll be strangers no matter where you go. The longer you avoid sticking in one place the harder it will get. At least you have each other but do think that's enough?"

Sharon let both of them think on that as she put her ingredients back in the fridge. As she walked back, Rusty looked at her. "You make deals with criminals don't you?"

Suddenly she was a bit worried where this was going. "Mm hmm," she hummed.

"How about making a deal with us?" Riley said finishing her brother's thought. They didn't often do weird twin things, but every now and then they did speak for each other.

"What kind of deal?" Sharon asked, trying to reveal she was open to the idea.

"We'll go to St. Joseph's like you want, but as soon as it's time for us to leave and go somewhere else, you have to give us like thirty days notice, okay?" Rusty looked at Riley as though to check and see if this sounded good to her before looking back over to Sharon. "We can do this. We can go to Catholic school. I can be civil, but as long as we all remember that sooner or later we're going to have to leave and start over somewhere else."

There was pain hidden behind the strength both of them were trying to show, but Sharon wouldn't lie to them.

"That's true. Whatever happens here, you will one day go off on your own and be the new kids again. But," Sharon looked at the two kids who stood so close to each other as if to remind each other that they weren't completely alone as long as they had one another, "no matter where you go, no matter when, you'll never be strangers to me."

The twins looked up at her surprised, emotion registering in both their eyes.

"I will always know you," she told them.

"Whether I like it or not?" Rusty questioned with a smile.

Sharon smiled right back at him. "That's right, buster. Whether you like it or not."

Then her playful expression turned serious. "Deal?" Her hand extended toward Rusty for a shake.

Rusty took it. "Deal."

Then Sharon looked at Riley and offered her the same hand. "Deal, missy?"

Riley smiled. "Definitely," she replied taking her hand and doing the same as her brother.

Sharon looked between the twins and wanted so badly to take them into her arms and hug them, but she definitely knew better. Riley would come to her if she wanted to be touch and Rusty was still an arm's length type of kid.

Clearing her throat of the emotion that was building in it, Sharon gave both kids a smile. "Why don't you both go onto bed? You have school again tomorrow."

They both nodded.

"Goodnight, Sharon," Rusty said to her as he moved toward his bedroom.

But Riley didn't move quiet as fast, instead she stayed behind and looked at the captain. The girl tugged on her grey long sleeved t-shirt and shyly looked up at Sharon.

"Can... can I talk to you for a second?" Riley asked softly.

"Sure," the captain replied, feeling concerned already about what was going to come out of Riley's mouth.

"If we don't get to stay here and we get sent back to foster homes... can you... will you make sure we don't get sent back to the Kilburn's house?" Riley's face was red with embarrassment as she looked up at Sharon. "Please. I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important."

Sharon looked at the girl and understood that this was extremely important. "I will do my best."

Riley looked relieved as she nodded. "Thank you. Goodnight, Sharon."

Sharon made a mental note to ask Cynthia about the first names of the Kilburn's. She may think about looking a little deeper into them to figure out why Riley was so afraid of going back.

_**Please review. **_


	4. Migraines

Riley sat in her history class, her notebook open and filled with the notes for the day when the teacher stopped her lesson and looked at her watch.

"As most of you know, the Welcome Back dance is next Saturday. The dress is semi-formal but must be appropriate." Mrs. Hancock's gaze hardened as she scanned the room. Apparently some girls had a history of less than appropriate dresses at the dances.

Moving over to her desk she took a handful of flyer and handed some to each person in the front row to pass back. The flyer looked like a typical dance flyer that she had seen at other schools, not that she had ever been to one. School dances required a dress that she didn't have money for. Semi formal mean at least a hundred dollars for a dress in LA and there was no way she was going to be able to come up with that kind of money.

The bell rang and Riley stuffed the flyer in her backpack and went to search for her brother.

"Hey, Riley!" someone called from behind her making her stop in her tracks to see who it was.

Trey Rainey appeared from the room she had just escaped from waving his hand to flag her down. Riley's face flushed. She had found Trey cute and really nice since the first day he invited her and Rusty to sit with him at lunch.

"Hey," she replied, trying to seem indifferent about him catching her outside of class.

He started to walk along beside her, his adorable dimples making Riley's heart beat loud in her chest. "I was wondering if you were planning on going to the dance."

For the first time Riley noticed Trey's usual confidence was transformed into something a little more shy. She really wanted to say yes, but she also knew very well that she didn't have the money to go to. "I don't know yet," Riley said casually. "I'm not sure the dance thing is really for me."

Trey tilted his head. "You mean you've never been to a dance," he asked, revealing a small smile. "They're sorta lame, but they have their perks."

Rusty waved at his sister and she waved back. As usual a patrol car was waiting to take them to Sharon's office. "I don't know I'll have to talk to my-" not mom... "Sharon. I'll talk to you later," Riley rushed over to her brother waving to Trey as she went.

"Text me and let me know," Trey called as Rusty also waved at him and they dove into the patrol car.

Rusty gave his sister a look that told her that he knew all about her little crush on Trey. She returned the look, wanting to remind him that she knew that he thought Sarah from his Trig class was cute too.

Three weeks into school and they were going a whole lot better than anyone could have imagined. Except for the patrol car thing. They could really use without that attention.

But as they walked into Sharon's office and tossed their backpacked in the chair beside the door, they collapsed in the chairs at the conference table, earning the attention of Sharon and the DDA that neither of them could remember the name of.

"So, I kinda don't like the whole patrol car picking us up from school. We could really do without that kind of attention," Rusty commented as Riley pushed her chair back on two legs and smiled contently.

Rusty rolled his eyes at her and shook his head. "Come down to earth. Trey's not around anymore."

Sharon raised her eyebrow at his comment as Riley threw her brother a dirty look. "Shut up. At least Trey's nicer that that Sarah girl." Riley flipped her head mockingly and batted her eyelashes as the chair slammed down on all four legs. "Oh, Rusty, thank you _so_ much with helping with my extremely difficult Trig homework." She gave an obnoxious giggle. "I don't even know how I got into this Honor's class. I must have flashed Mr. Tyson my obviously fake-"

"That's not even-"

"It's so true and you know it! She's dumb as a box of rocks! Daddy probably bought more than just those D's on her chest. No one can be _that _skinny and have those things."

Sharon could help but find the bickering humorous, and since they were both smiling despite their words she knew it was all out of sibling fun.

"So, who's Trey?" Sharon asked as Riley and Rusty stopped their playful fighting.

"Just a guy from class," Riley replied like it was nothing.

"Did he ask you if you're going to that stupid dance?" Rusty asked watching Riley's cheeks burn red. Of course he did. "He asked me if we were going, but I told him that I doubted it."

Riley shrunk in her seat. "Well, he still asked if I was going..."

Sharon caught the sadness in Riley's eyes and frowned. "Well why aren't you?"

The look Riley gave her was somewhere between ashamed and angry. "Because I don't have a dress."

"Well, we'll get you one," Sharon replied like it was the obvious answer.

Two pairs of blue eyes looked up at Sharon. "Really?" Riley asked hopefully.

"Sure. We can get you a new shirt and pants, Rusty," Sharon told him. "And a new tie."

Rusty and Riley both looked between each other and Sharon exchanged glances with the DDA. They seemed to be having a conversation without words that ended with Riley slowly turning her attention back to Sharon.

There was a small smile that held a great deal of affection for the two kids and Riley gave a small smile in return. "Are you sure? You've already done so much for us."

They really didn't want Sharon to spend even more money on them than she already was. They were already in a private school on her dollar and having her buy them new clothes felt like they were asking too much.

Sharon gave the kids a firm but caring look. "Absolutely. I wouldn't offer if I wasn't sure."

Riley was having difficulty concealing her excitement, her big smile was hard to hold back. For a moment Sharon remembered how her children never had to worry about getting a new dress or new shirt for a dance. They knew they would be offered it and they would go out and pick out whatever they wanted for the dance.

These two have probably never been bought a real gift in their life.

Flynn knocked on the door as he opened it and smiled at Riley and Rusty. "Hey guys."

"Hey," Rusty replied nodding at him as Riley beamed.

"Guess what!" Her eyes were wide with excitement and her smile was a little crooked. She had such a childlike innocence of excitement that it seemed to brighten the whole atmosphere.

"What?" Flynn asked glancing at Sharon to notice she was smiling too.

"Rusty and I get to go to a dance! A _real _dance!" Reaching over to her brother, she shook his shoulder and beamed at him.

Flynn laughed at her as Rusty rolled his eyes. "You don't seem as excited."

"Music, dancing, that's more of Riley's thing. She's also really good at piano, not that she'd tell you that herself," Rusty offered up sending Riley under the bus as Sharon made it obvious that this was extremely interesting to her.

"You play piano?"

Riley glared at her brother but nodded. "Some. I mostly taught myself on the piano our neighbor had."

Flynn then cleared his throat and remembered the reason behind coming into the captain's office. "You're needed in the murder room, Captain."

Riley was glad for the diversion. "Well, I've got homework. I get to read MacBeth!"

Rusty groaned. "They're making me read Hamlet."

Following Sharon the door Riley rolled her eyes at her brother's complaint. "They could be making us read _The Scarlet Letter_." She shivered at the thought. "Sorry, but I'm not reading anything about Hester Prinn ever again."

Rusty cracked a smile at his sister. "You're a poet and didn't know it."

Riley glanced back at them. "I can make a rhyme anytime."

"You just might."

"Of course I'm right."

Together they started laughing as Sharon smiled affectionately at them. DDA Hobbs also watch them move toward the cubical where they usually did their homework. "They seem fun," she mused as Riley threw her arm around her brother's shoulders and they disappeared around the corner.

Sharon made eye contact with Buzz and he nodded, knowing what she was asking immediately.

"They grow on you," she replied simply.

Hobbs took a deep breath watched as Buzz went to sit with the twins. "Look, what you tell the kids is up to you," she went on, reminding Sharon the heat of the topic Rusty and Riley busted in on. "I'm not sure their father has any legal standing. And he may know as little about Rusty and Riley as they know about him."

This was a very hard decision for Sharon. Already the twins had been let down horrifically by their mother and she worried that their dad may do the same thing. Even worse, a small part of her wished he would. She had grown to adore those kids. Everything from their playful bickering to their little habits they didn't know they had. They had grown together, even when none of them originally wanted it.

Those kids were important and she wasn't very willing to let them get hurt again.

"I will have to think on how to approach this," Sharon replied honestly.

It was a very long and difficult day. She had been shaken to the bone by a case that was already so close to home with her own two kids, but now she had Rusty and Riley with her everyday. She thought how terrible it would be if something happened to any of her kids. It was a fear that never really ended for a parent and Sharon felt awful for the parents.

Riley and Rusty didn't approve of lying. Rusty more than Riley, especially after they saw Emily's parents clinging and holding each other. At least they had their daughter back. Sharon looked over at the twins through the glass as Emily's parents broke at the news their son was gone. They saw so much emotion in her eyes that Rusty felt bad for getting mad at her. She really was just trying to do what was right.

As they moved toward their cubical and sat together, Riley with her iPod in her ears and her journal opened in front of her with a pen. Rusty seemed to be caught up in a book, but both of them knew that they were not the least bit focused

Sharon walked in and noticed the silence that was laced with something much heavier than the usual.

Riley looked up first but didn't speak. Instead Rusty had the first question. "Are they going to be okay?"

"We did our best," Sharon replied sadly. "We gave them our daughter back."

This didn't sound all that great to Riley. "Is she okay?"

Sharon looked at the twins. It suddenly occurred to her as much as she was empathizing with the parents, Rusty and Riley were empathizing with the siblings. They depended on each other much more than normal siblings and the idea of one going on with life without the other probably seemed too painful to imagine.

"She's alive," Sharon replied simply. Then she decided to change the subject. "Homework done?"

"MacBeth is sorta boring, but I totally love Lady MacBeth. She's so manipulative and interesting."

Rusty rolled his eyes. "I hope you weren't taking notes."

Sharon was surprised as the kids packed up their bags and Riley attached herself to her Sharon's side. The girl had been particularly physical lately, allowing Sharon to rest her hand on her shoulder and even sometimes a hug goodnight, but Rusty was more distant still. He liked Sharon, he _really _didn't want to give up what he had anymore, but Riley had always been the more lovable one out of the two.

"How was Hamlet?" Sharon asked Rusty also came around to the other side of Sharon.

"It's long. Hamlet is haunted by the ghost of his father in the first act. Then his father comes back for a minute-" Sharon is suddenly caught off guard by the familiarity of the real life situation that sounds so similar to Rusty's summary of Hamlet. "-Then nothing really happens til the end."

"So you actually read it," Raydor said pleasantly surprised.

Rusty's eyes narrowed at her. "I wouldn't lie. The police are the ones that lie."

"We don't lie," Riley added looking up at Raydor, those baby blues doing their magic with her emotions. "You wouldn't lie to us would you?"

Sharon stopped walking and let both the twins turn to face her. Riley was no longer tucked under the captain's arm as they looked at her. "I won't lie to you, I promise," she said firmly. "I will tell you everything I know. As soon as I have had a reasonable opportunity to assess the facts."

With that, she handed Rusty a red folder and watched a both of them glanced between it and her. "What is it?" Riley asked nervously.

"It's what we're going to talk about over dinner," Sharon replied simply.

It went over differently than Sharon would have thought. She expected Rusty to be the combative one, but for the first time, she saw it more in Riley than her brother. She jerked away from Sharon when she reached out to comfort the girl, but it was more of reflex than deliberation. Rusty was snippy, but Riley was beside herself.

"No, I don't want to have anything to do with him. I don't care who he is," Riley snapped as she pushed her food away. Sharon knew that she didn't eat when she was upset and it was very concerning because she was already thin and ate like a bird.

"Riley-" she tried again, but this time Riley slid out of her chair and shook her head.

"No!"

Suddenly she disappeared into her bedroom and slammed the door behind her. The attitude was shocking to Sharon, but Rusty just kept holding the file. "Can we... think about it?"

Again, Sharon was shocked as she turned her attention to Rusty. "Absolutely."

The awkward silence hung over them and Sharon finally sighed. "You may be excused if you'd like. I'll clear the table."

Rusty nodded and headed toward his room, pausing briefly in front of Riley's door as if to decide whether or not to talk to her. Apparently he decided against it because he went onto his room.

Sharon took a deep breath as she began to clear the table. Scraping the remaining food into the trashcan and rinsing them in the sink before stacking them in the dishwasher. She didn't want to hurt them, but they had a right to know at least something about their father.

More than anything, she wanted those two kids to be safe and loved and at the moment they were. They were safe and loved with her.

Normally Sharon Raydor could distance herself from any person. It was a skill. She could emotionally shut herself off. But lately it had been harder. She was feeling more than she ever knew now that she was leading the Major Crimes division and Rusty and Riley had worked their way into her heart.

She honestly didn't know how it happened. She hadn't meant to love them as deeply as she did now, she knew that this was for their safety and for the case. But all that had changed. They were all emotionally invested in each other. For the first time in Riley and Rusty's life they had stability and someone who put them first, and for the first time in their life they were letting a stranger into their hearts that were even more guarded than her own.

Sharon was honored to be that person and she was going to do her very best to keep them from anymore emotional or physical trauma.

The table cleared and the dishes stacked away, Sharon decided to head to bed. She was well beyond tired and was asleep almost the moment her head hit the pillow.

Though it didn't stay there long.

Loud sob and screams woke Sharon and panic immediately rushed through her. Not bothering to grab her robe, Sharon pulled open her bedroom door clad in her pajama shorts and a camisole. Rusty was also stumbling into the hallway as Riley's cries continued.

Sharon pushed the door open and turned on Riley's bedside lamp. She was still asleep and her blankets had been kicked off and a sheet tangled around her feet. Sweat was beading at Riley's forehead as Sharon reached out to her.

"Please!" Riley screamed as she continued to thrash. She was burning up with fever.

Sharon glanced at Rusty standing in the doorway. "Go get a glass of water."

Without question, Rusty disappeared to head to the kitchen.

Riley kept thrashing as Sharon gently shushed the girl and took a seat on her bed. For a moment Sharon debated on whether or not to reach other to her, at the memory of what she had down earlier in the evening, but she decided she'd risk it as more tears started to roll down her cheeks.

Gathering Riley into her arms, Sharon began rocking the girl back and forth, trying to wake her gently.

Rusty reappeared with the glass of water and handed it to Sharon. Riley immediately curled into her chest as Sharon put the water to her lips.

"Take a sip, honey," Sharon instructed Riley, not sure if she was awake enough to obey. The girl was shivered but took the glass in her shaky and sipped from it.

"My-head-hurt," Riley complained with tears in her eyes.

Sharon kept holding the girl as her brother looked helpless as he stood beside them. "She always gets really bad nightmares when she gets sick."

This triggered many questions. "How often does she get sick like this?"

Rusty shrugged. "I don't know. Just sometimes."

Noting it, Sharon looked at her watch. It was just past two in the morning. Riley needed to get to the hospital and she doubted the girl could walk. Rusty wasn't going to be able to carry his sister and Sharon couldn't either, even if the girl was only a hundred pounds soaking wet. She was going to be mostly dead weight.

Taking a deep breath she looked at Rusty again. "I need you to get my cell phone off my dresser."

Again, Rusty didn't argue, just obeyed.

Half a second later, he reappeared with her phone and handed it to her.

She took a deep breath and hit a speed dial.

"Lieutenant Flynn," she said weakly, feeling out of options. "I need a personal favor."

Riley's cries began again as she grabbed at her head.

_"Everything alright Captain?" _Flynn asked sleepily.

Raydor's face was hot with embarrassment but she didn't have anyone else she could call, and he lived only a couple blocks away.

"Riley... she needs to go to the hospital and I can't..."

There was the sound of movement over the phone. _"I'll be there in five minutes."_

"Thank you, Lieutenant," she said honestly as Riley held on to her tightly. As she hung up her phone she looked back at Rusty. "Go change. We're going to get Riley to the ER."

Rusty looked nervously at his sister, but moved quickly to his room.

"Sharon?" Riley whimpered, her eyes still clenched closed and tears rolling down her pale but flushed cheeks.

"I'm right here," she replied, stroking the girl's damp hair.

Andy Flynn did not expect a phone call in the middle of the night, much less from the captain. She sounded scared for her foster child and his heart ached for the that girl. He was very fond of those kids and Riley was something special to him. She reminded of his own daughter that really didn't want anything to do with him.

When he made it to the captain's condo, Rusty met him at the door before he could even knock.

The boy looked beside himself. "Sharon said we have to take Riley to the hospital."

Flynn walked in wearing jeans and a t-shirt and Sharon stuck her head out of Riley's room. She had taken a moment to slide on a pair of jeans and pull on a jacket. "Can you carry her?"

Immediately, Andy walked into the girl's bedroom to see Riley covering her eyes and curled into a ball. "Hey, kiddo."

Riley continued to weep, but she attempted to smile. "Sharon said I have to go to the hospital."

Sharon met Andy's gaze as he leaned down and scooped Riley up. She held her eyes closed tightly as tears kept rolling down her cheeks. The slightest movement made her head pound more and her stomach flip.

"Is Rusty coming too?" Riley moaned as she buried her face in Flynn's shoulder. The light made her want to cry more with what it was doing to her head.

"I wouldn't leave you, would I?" Rusty asked as he held the door for Flynn. Sharon locked the door behind them.

As they made it out of the building Sharon opened the back door so Riley could be laid in the back. "Sharon?" Riley called out to her. She leaned into the backseat and held the girl's hand. "Can you sit with me?"

Rusty looked at her, not about to let her say no, not that she planned on it. Rusty slid into the passenger seat as Sharon sat in the back, letting Riley's head fall into her lap. Andy met Sharon's gaze in the rearview mirror. Giving him a thankful look, he nodded at her.

It was going to be a long night.

"You don't have to stay," Sharon whispered as Rusty slept in one of the hospital chairs and Riley finally slept peacefully in the hospital bed. She had thrown up six times since they arrived at the hospital and was now on an IV to get fluids.

The doctor had diagnosed her with severe migraines and gave her some pain medication and wanted to keep her until morning. She was finally sleeping peacefully.

"My answer hasn't changed since the first time you asked me three hours ago," Andy told her sitting on the small hospital couch allowing her space to sit too.

But Sharon didn't move from her half sitting position next to Riley on the bed. She already felt uncomfortable about calling him in the earlier hours of the morning for help with Riley and now he was staying by her side.

"Thank you, Andy, really," she told him as she looked back down at Riley.

He just gave her a smile. "You had me pretty worried when you called," he said honestly with a shrug.

Sharon tried to laugh. "She had me pretty worried."

They both smiled knowing that it was more than true for all of them. Andy glanced at both the kids. "You going to send Rusty to school in a couple hours?"

Sharon shook her head and kept gently stroking Riley's hair. "He's had a long night and Riley would rather have him around. I don't think I'll be going in either."

Flynn was intrigued by this protective side of Sharon Raydor. She had come a long way from being ice queen and the fact that when he really looked at her sometimes and he could see the hidden emotion in her eyes or hear the way her voice deviated from its usual firmness reminded him that she was human.

He hated just how attractive Sharon Raydor was to him. She wasn't his usual type, in fact she wasn't even close to his type, but he held an extremely weird attraction for her. The ice queen that he could stand in the very beginning had his odd ability to love so passionately it was wielded like a weapon for these children.

Plus those kids... He had kids of his own that wanted little to nothing to do with him. Not that he could really blame them. During their youth he had be focused on his career, not his ex-wife and children. All the pain of his heartache from his kids and his wife went into his job. He became a better officer because of it.

"Riley's been talking more," Flynn said suddenly, eager to break the silence with conversation.

Sharon smiled down at the girl. "Talking more to you, you mean? She's not very good around men, but she seems to really like you."

Flynn was mildly surprised. Kids didn't usually like him. He just wasn't a kid person. They were fine, and they were fine with him, but very rarely did a kid, much less a teenager, actually like him.

Sharon chuckled at his surprise, a sound that Andy didn't hear often from the captain. "The word she used was _noble_ I believe."

That was very shocking to Andy and he laughed at her. "That's a new one. Are you sure she knows what it means?"

"I think she thinks it means answering the phone in the early hours in the morning to carry her to the car and get her to the hospital. Sticking with her and her brother even though she and I both said you're fine to go home," Sharon's eyes sparked as a thankful smile appeared. "That's pretty noble."

"Well," Andy shrugged. "You needed help. I wasn't going to say 'Sorry, you're the one who took the kids in' and go back to sleep."

Plus he was rather fond of all of them. Sharon Raydor kept petting Riley's sandy hair that was now curled a bit from her sweaty fever. "Still, thank you."

Her beautiful green eyes met his and he suddenly had a strange urge to kiss her. His eyes fell to her lips without thinking and he quickly shot them back to her eyes. They were too far away from her to notice, but he definitely did.

"Sharon?" Riley moaned, her eyes slowly fluttering opened to the dimly lit room. The light had been hurting her head earlier, so Sharon had turned off the lights.

"Right here," Sharon replied turning her attention back to the girl.

"Can I have some water? My throat's really dry," Riley asked sleepily, her eyes already drooping closed.

Andy was already on his feet. "I'll go get some. I'll be back."

He needed to escape. He had felt something for the captain he couldn't believe was happening. He was out the door before anyone could stop him and grabbing a cup from the hallway. Whatever had just happened, it couldn't happen again, he decided. She was his captain and there was no way he could take that route.

Still, he had to catch his breath. When did the captain become so... beautiful?

Suddenly he felt his own headache coming on.

_**I hope you guys enjoy this! I'm adding a bit of Flynn and Raydor into this, because I feel like Riley would just try and be a match maker. **_


	5. Daniel Dunn

Rusty made all of them breakfast as he had done for about a week now. Riley had set the table and they both allowed Sharon to get as much sleep as possible. Their dance was the next day and Riley was much more excited than her brother.

"Morning, Sharon," Riley greeted first as Sharon appeared fully dressed for work. Sharon was very surprised to receive a peck on the cheek from Riley before the three of them sat at the breakfast table.

Both Riley and Rusty had been warm to her since they had decided that they didn't want to meet their father. They liked living with Sharon and Sharon liked having them. Riley wanted so badly to be someone's daughter again and Sharon was willing to be a mother. Even Rusty eager to please her with his grades and joining chess club. Riley had started concert choir and she was in an independent study with the orchestra director to get better at piano. They both were very quiet with their work until they had something to show for it.

Rusty gave his foster mother a smile as he put food on her plate and took his place at the table across from his sister. "Good morning. Breakfast looks great, Rusty," Sharon told him as Riley sipped her juice and mostly avoided her food like usual.

Sharon had noticed that Riley had been eating even less than usual, but she already had an idea on how to fix that.

"Are you picking us up at ten?" Rusty asked, reminding Sharon of the faculty retreat their teachers are having.

"If not, we can take the bus," Riley added quickly sending a pointed look at her brother.

"No, I'll be there to get you. The rest of the team will be in court so I can stop by to get you," Sharon told them as Riley took a small bite of eggs.

A small silence fell over them as they ate, until Sharon looked back up at the twins. "So, where would you like to eat tomorrow before the dance?"

"What do you mean?" Riley asked seeming unsure how to answer.

They were always so careful to answer questions, they always acted like they were a trap. Sharon gave them a patient look as both twins tried to understand what she meant.

"I always took my kids out to eat before the Welcome Back dance. Their choice where we went. Where would you like to go?"

Riley's eyes lit up. "Can we have Italian?"

Rusty seemed to like this idea as well.

"Italian sounds good," Sharon agreed. "Is there anyone you'd like to invite?"

Neither of the twins said anything which usually meant no. Sharon allowed Riley to take her plate and clear the table while Rusty went to get their backpacks. Before they headed out the door, Riley grabbed ran back to the kitchen to take her pill for her headaches.

After that terrible night, both kids seemed to trust Sharon more. She had proved to have their best interest at heart when she spent hours by Riley's side until she was feeling better. Flynn had even carried Riley back to bed the next morning and sat down with Rusty to watch TV on the couch so Sharon could keep Riley comfortable.

She couldn't have know how much that meant to those two kids. Everyone else had slammed Riley's door and ignored her as she cried, Sharon was the first person to stop and help her. For that she earned the respect of both twins.

Since that night, Riley had been less afraid of showing emotion toward Sharon. She would kiss Sharon's cheek goodnight and goodbye, even allowed Sharon to pry a little more about school. Rusty allowed her to touch his shoulder without flinching. In fact both twins could handle the touching if they were the ones that made the first move. Even with Riley, Sharon could not imagine getting close enough to give her a hug if Riley didn't look completely ready.

"Can we leave our backpacks in the car since we are just going to Mass and not actually having class?" Riley asked as Sharon pulled up to the school.

"That's fine," she replied.

Riley slid out of the backseat and Rusty closed the passenger side door. Both kids turned around and waved as a group of kids joined them. One kid fist bumped Rusty as Riley let herself fall back, away from the crowd. Sharon frowned a bit until another girl suddenly ran to catch up with Riley. By the look on Riley's face she was quite happy to see the girl and they struck up conversation.

The sound of the car behind her honking made Sharon roll her eyes. That's LA for you.

Sharon was hoping for a quick and easy day at work, but when the case they were assigned to revolved around a girl who was a prostituted out Sharon knew it was not going to be an easy day at all. In fact, she was glad to get the break to pick the kids back up before diving head first into the crude evidence that she was presented with.

Riley threw he backpack over her shoulder and Rusty followed her back into their cubicle. Sharon poked her head in on them. "Work on your homework, when you're done you can play chess on my computer or-" She looked at Riley- "the library is just around the block if you need a new book."

Riley beamed. "Since I'm done with my homework can I go now?" she asked holding tight onto her backpack.

"Sure, Rusty?"

"I have to finish a paper," Rusty replied, but still looked at his sister. "Will you still pick me up something to read? You know what I read."

Riley nodded and smiled at Sharon. "I'll be back in a little bit."

On her way toward the elevator, she ran almost right into Flynn. "You really need to start watching where you're going, kid."

Sharon gave them both a smile as she passed, but Riley saw something in the way she looked at Flynn and how his eyes followed her. She recognized the look from the day Flynn carried her to the hospital and the afternoon after. They had been making googolly eyes at each other since that night.

"Sorry, sir," Riley said softy.

Flynn frowned. "You're not going to start that shy stuff on me again, are you? I thought we were past that." Riley smiled back up at him, easily meeting his eyes. It was her own way of saying they were past it. "That's my girl."

Flynn put his arm around Riley's shoulders and started walking her toward the elevator. "Anymore headaches?"

"Nope. Sharon has been sure I take my medicine every morning and night," she told him with a bit of a smile. "Thank you for helping me."

Flynn waved it off. "You've said thank you more than enough times, kid. Are you excited for that dance tomorrow?"

He could help but smirk at how the girl's cheeks turned a deep shade of red. "Yeah.."

He hit the button for her. "Anyone special you're going with?" he said already knowing the answer to that. Sharon was extremely happy both kids were adapting to the new life they were given and the fact there was a boy Riley was showing some interest in made the entire team ready to follow whoever the kid was home from school to be sure he met up to all of their standards.

"Well," Riley shifted a little. "His name is Trey, but we're not going together we're just both going... He asked if I was going and I told him I was and he said cool... so..."

Oh to be sixteen again and be too afraid to bluntly ask the pretty girl to the dance. Flynn struggle to remain stoic and not give away how funny he thought she was with her nerves.

"Rusty said he likes me, but I think he's just being nice," Riley muttered looking back up at the elevator and waiting for it to come.

Flynn just shrugged. "Go and have a good time, who knows what will happen."

Perhaps that wasn't the right advice, but he didn't worry about it too much. She was a good kid and he really had a soft spot for her and her brother. As Riley got in the elevator, she looked up at Flynn. The smile she gave him reminded him of a little girl, not a young woman, but he couldn't help but love it.

As soon as Riley's elevator closed, the other one opened. The captain was walking toward Flynn when Cynthia stepped out.

"Ah, Captain Raydor," she said eagerly, a polite smile gracing her presence. A man stepped out behind her. "Good news. This is Daniel Dunn, Rusty and Riley's father."

Dread.

Perhaps that isn't even a strong enough word to describe what both Sharon and Flynn felt in the moment the dark haired man offered his hand out to them. Sharon wasn't even able to hear his introduction by her own thoughts screaming in her head about how she didn't want him there or anywhere near the twins.

They had come so far, the twin wanted to stay with Sharon and live with her. They had told her that they wanted to stay and Sharon had at least partially admitted that she couldn't imagine living without them now. Was there a polite way of telling the man to get his sorry ass back on that elevator and never even thinking about her kids ever again?

She didn't think so, at least not in a way that may convince him. Instead Flynn took action.

"Why don't you follow me?" he instructed, turning Sharon around and gently leading her toward the break room. They had to get Daniel Dunn out of where Riley or Rusty could just run into him.

Sharon was trying to deal with the knot swelling in her throat and the panicked tears fighting to stay behind her eyes. Flynn did the pleasantries of sitting Mr. Dunn down in the break room before return to Sharon's side like the loyal friend he had become.

Sharon's eyes were like daggers at Cynthia. "They were very clear. Riley and Rusty did _not _want to meet their biological father."

Flynn could hear the pain in his captain's voice and he tried to play diplomat. "I mean, the kids are just now settling down. Hell, they're going to a school dance tomorrow and Riley couldn't be happier."

The social worker looked slightly sympathetic, but not nearly enough for Sharon's taste. "Foster care, is by definition, temporary." And there was another swift kick to Sharon's heart. "I was bond by law to find this man and inform him that he had two children. In all fifty states we would have tried to reunite Riley and Rusty with a parent or the nearest-"

Rusty suddenly came around the corner with a book in his hand and Sharon shook her head, silently begging the woman to shut up.

Rusty looked up at them as Cynthia turned around. He looked just as surprised to see Rusty as he was to see her. "Hey, what's up?" he asked curiously.

"Nothing!" Cynthia said a little too enthusiastically. "Why aren't you in school?"

"Faculty retreat, they let us go right after Mass." He glanced at Sharon and Flynn. "Gotta love those Catholics," he added dryly making Sharon bark out a laugh a little too eagerly.

Everyone exchanged looks and Rusty faltered a little. "Am I in trouble again?"

Cynthia opened her mouth to say something, but Sharon beat her to the punch. "Oh, no, what do you need?"

Rusty looked taken back. "A soda?"

Flynn jumped in, telling him that there was some sort of "sensitive family thing" being dealt with in the break room and they'd bring him a soda later, but Rusty still didn't seem completely sold. Still, he took them at their word and slowly returned to the cubicle.

Sharon sad down with Daniel Dunn to speak with him, but no matter how much he went on about his business and his life, she didn't care. She just wanted him gone. When questioned about Sharon Beck, he easily revealed that she was a whore that he really didn't know all that well in high school. Everything about the situation infuriated her more.

"Do they know about me?" Daniel asked as Sharon struggled with herself.

"Yes," she replied simply, her dry tone giving nothing away.

"Do they... want to meet me?" he asked as though he was pulling information out of her with some difficulty.

Sharon struggled not to snap at him and say how they most certainly did not want to meet the man that never knew they existed or cared what happen to their mother until now. "At the moment, no."

"Okay. So what do we do about that?" Daniel pressed a little more.

All she wanted to do was tell him that he could do nothing about that. That these kids were finally safe and happy, not that he asked about how they were actually doing, not even once. But she couldn't say that. She had to remain professional and give him the real options. She would not force Rusty and Riley to see him, but she couldn't tell them not to talk to him either. What if he was a good person? What if he really was going to take care of the twins?

But what if he wasn't up for the kind of love and attention Rusty and Riley needed?

Would he remind Riley to take her medicine every evening and morning to keep her headaches away? Would he be sensitive to the fact that both of them were mildly afraid of the dark and like to keep the bathroom light on and door cracked at night? Would he stop while Rusty was yelling and listen to what Rusty was trying to say?

She found herself contemplating these facts all day. Provenza was quick to empathize with her, also holding a soft spot for those kids, while Flynn just wanted the man to leave.

"Sharon!"

Riley's distressed calls were going through the murder room as Flynn stepped out of the interview room. Riley nearly ran toward him and Daniel Dunn appeared around the corner after her.

Almost immediately, Riley grabbed Flynn's arm and clung to him as Daniel Dunn. Sharon appeared behind them and Provenza after her.

Rusty also appeared around the corner and was staring at Riley nearly hiding behind Flynn as Provenza and Sharon tried to move in between them. Daniel kept looking around them to Riley.

"I'm not going to hurt you. I'm Daniel Dunn, your father," he tried to explain making Rusty lose the ability to speak. Rusty spun back around and disappeared back into his cubicle, not wanting to be seen by the man as Riley kept looking at Sharon and the other detectives for help.

"What's he doing here?" she demanded. "I thought you said-"

Sharon turned her attention to the girl. "I know what I said, and I'll talk to you in just a second." Turning her attention back to her people. "Lieutenant Tao, will you please take Mr. Dunn back to the break room. Lieutenants Flynn and Provenza, will you please follow me." She met Riley's eyes. "You too."

Tao motioned for Mr. Dunn to follow him, but instead he reached out and touched Riley's shoulder when she had her back to him. She literally yelped and jumped, clinging to Sharon's arm now.

"Mr. Dunn," Sharon said louder and colder. "Please go with Detective Tao. Now."

They could all hear him say that he barely touched her as Sharon secured her arm around Riley and led her into the cubicle. Rusty was beside himself, just as much as Riley was as he paced around the cubicle. Riley even backed away from her and put the table between them.

They were scare and hurt, anyone could see that. But Riley also could see that Sharon was feeling much the same.

"Why is he here?" Rusty demanded as Riley slid into the chair. "You said that we decided whether or not to meet him and we said no!"

Sharon was taking the yelling like a champ, even though Riley could see she was fighting with her own emotions. "Hold on, hold on, hold on. Let me tell you what happened here," Sharon demanded and pleaded at the same time.

Rusty had tears in his eyes and Riley had pulled her knees to her chin. Of course they were scare, no one in that room expected this to happen. Provenza stayed a safe distance away as the bomb continued its explosion. Flynn on the other hand stayed behind Sharon as Riley tried to straighten everything in her mind.

"He's in the building! He talked to Riley!" Rusty suddenly turned his attention to his sister. "Did you tell Sharon you wanted to meet him? Huh? Did you want to see what being an Orange County kid was like? Think it'll be better that being pushed around in some foster home? Think he likes dirty blonds too?"

Riley was on her feet. Rusty was tossing out low blows and everyone in the room could see it. "No! I didn't. Beside you're the one who also went with the dirty blond logo!"

"Think he'll want you because you're not so 'agressive'? Tell ya what! As soon as they find out what you've done, they won't want you either!"

Riley's hands were in fists but she wasn't a fighter. All three adults jumped in at the same time. "Rusty!" Sharon snapped as Provenza stood closer and glared at the boy and Flynn glanced between both of them. "Riley didn't ask for this either! DCFS found out about Daniel Dunn they became legally obligated to inform him-"

"So that's why Cynthia was here? She bring him with her?" Rusty snapped as tears built in his eyes. Sharon looked even more guilty, so guilty in fact it was hard for Riley to look. "That's who was in the break room? We're in the sensitive family matter!"

"Cynthia thought she was going you a favor by bringing Mr. Dunn here-"

"No! Stop it Sharon! She was doing you a favor!" Rusty snapped back. "She was not doing a favor for us! Great. The rules win. Now you can get rid of us and it's not your fault."

Riley was on her feet again. "Leave her alone, Rusty!"

"Shut up, Riley!" Rusty snapped back taking a step toward her, but Riley didn't back down. "Go be someone else's lap dog. God knows how familiar you are with everyone's."

"You probably know every guy's dick on this side of LA, but you sure the hell aren't very good at sucking up," Riley snapped back, her blue eyes even more vicious now.

"Riley!" Sharon snapped at her and both kids shut up, but didn't stop glaring at each other. "I am not trying to get rid of either-"

"Don't even pretend-"

"Will you-"

"That's enough!" Provenza suddenly jumped in, glaring at both the twins. Tears were rolling down both the twin's faces and Sharon looked like she was doing her very best holding her own back.

"Now, you know, I am not friends with this woman, but if she wanted to get rid of you she would have dumped both of your sorry asses in a group home months ago," he snapped as Riley roughly wiped away her tears.

"It's alright, lieutenant," Sharon told him.

"No, it's not all right. So this guy shows up and says he's your father, wants to see you," Provenza continues. "Well none of us like it. But instead of whining about and picking fights with each other, let's look at our options."

Rusty glanced back at Sharon. "You talked to him?"

Flynn watched as Riley tried to disappear into the background. Her eyes were red and puffy and she didn't want anyone to see her so upset.

Sharon barely nodded at Rusty for an answer.

"And what did you think?" he demanded.

All eyes were on Sharon once again. "And what did you think?"

She swallowed hard, taking a moment before answering. "Rusty, I'm going to tell you the truth. I can't say that I liked him." She cleared her throat but it was still evident that her voice was cracking. "I don't know him and I can't be objective." Suddenly Sharon was looking for a wy out before her floodgates broke.

For a moment, Flynn almost reached out to her.

Still she paused again. "He made an effort to come and see you and I think-" Tears were starting to leak past her eye lids. "Just.. just think about that."

Guilt hid Rusty like a ton of bricks as she made a bee line for the door. "Sharon, I'm sorry."

"I know," she said roughly as she kept moving.

"Really, Sharon," Riley tried, her own tears rolling.

"I'm sorry," Rusty said again.

"I know," she replied this time, more nonchalantly, with a wave of her hand.

Then she was gone. Happy to make it to her office to close the blinds and cry by herself.

Rusty, Riley, Provenza and Flynn stood there in silence for a moment. Riley was debating on whether or not to punch her brother while Provenza had taken a different approach.

"I hope you're proud of yourself," he scoffed. "Really classy. Accusing her of wanting to get rid of you."

Riley shoved passed her brother and moved out of the room.

"Also, good job on calling your sister a whore," Flynn added from the sidelines. "Like she wasn't already mortified to walk into the break room and meet her father."

Rusty suddenly found his shoes very interesting as Flynn moved to go after Riley. But she wasn't in the murder room. Provenza and Sharon went down to the morgue while Rusty continued to sit in the cubicle. He had a lot to think about.

Riley sat in the hallway close to the murder room. Her head hurt, more from the stress of everything being thrown at her than from her the migraines she was known to suffer from. Suddenly the sound of something slumping down beside her caught her attention.

She glanced to her right, halfway expecting Flynn or someone other detective coming to drag her back to the cubicle, but instead she looked at a large German Shepherd laying against the wall beside her.

Of course Riley knew that the LAPD had all kinds of police dogs, but normally their officer was standing right beside them. But this dog just laid beside her, no master in sight.

Slowly, Riley reached out to her and the dog watched her. The dog probably was about the same size as Riley, but leaned over and licked Riley right in the face.

"Big, bad police dog, my ass," Riley chuckled as she started petting the dog. The dog got as close as possible to her and put it's big paws on her lap. She caught the dog's red collar and checked the tag on it. _Phantom_.

"Phantom, huh?" The dog yawned and pawed her lap again. "Hey, I like it. It suits you."

Riley didn't know how long she sat there with Phantom, but she found herself sharing more than she expected to. When Flynn found them, he decided to let them be. In fact he was more than a little surprised to find out the dog that had been named Phantom because he was a hell of a vicious attack dog seemed to take to the girl so well.

He left them alone as they closed their case and let Sharon know where she was later when he went looking for her.

Sharon watched as Riley sat silently with Phantom, her headphones in her ears as she ran her hand down the dog's back. Slowly moving around them to earn her attention without physically touching her, Riley pulled her headphones out of her ears and looked up at Sharon.

"Time to go?" she asked, maybe a little too hopefully.

"Actually, I think the three of us should talk," Sharon replied, offering out her arm to Riley.

She patted the big dog's head and accepted Sharon's help off the floor. Phantom stretched and went to follow her. "Stay, girl." The dog whined in protest and Riley scratched the dogs head. "I'll be back, I promise."

Sharon was amazed as the dog sat back down and slid to the ground. But she was even more amazed at the girl that rested her head on her shoulder and allowed Sharon to hug her.

"I know you're going to talk to us about Daniel, but I want to stay with you," she told Sharon as they walked toward the cubicle.

"And I want you both to stay," Sharon replied with a bit of a sigh. "I do, but what if he turns out to be a good person?"

"Then he'd understand," Riley countered harshly, then stopped to look up at Sharon. "I don't want to go through another home. It doesn't end well for me. Ever. Well, I mean until you."

Sharon couldn't have understood how much, mostly because Riley wasn't ready for her to know. They both knew that, but Sharon had some ideas. The argument her and her brother had led her to believe that Rusty wasn't the only one who sold himself on the street, but Sharon kept thinking about that night Riley begged not to get sent back to the Kilburns. She was very interested in finding out just what kind of people they were.

"Sharon," Riley tried again. "I am sorry for how both of us acted in there. We just... you're the first real home we've ever had."

A lump grew in Sharon's throat as she touched Riley's cheek. She was such a good girl. Pulling her in, Riley didn't flinch away from Sharon pressing her lips to Riley's head and hugging her tight. In fact, Riley held on just as tightly.

Sometimes Riley could fool you into thinking she was a competent adult, sometimes it was obvious she was a sixteen year old who wanted to go to dances and enjoy high school, then there were times where she just seemed like a little girl who needed to be loved.

Well, they both were. Riley and Rusty were definitely loved.

"I don't want you to go either," Sharon said honestly. "But I don't want it to be years down the road and you regret not meeting your father while you had the chance."

Riley understood that Sharon was just trying to do what's best for both of them. "Okay," Riley said softly. "But if-"

"If you don't feel comfortable, if you don't feel safe, I'll be right here," Sharon promised.

"And if everything seems okay?" Riley asked softly.

"Then we cross that bridge when we get there"

Riley nodded. "Okay. I'll let you talk to Rusty, but you can tell him that I'm on board. It'll be easier for you."

Sharon smiled. "Like I haven't noticed it's easier to win one of you over at a time."

Riley smiled back, but stood beside the door as Sharon went in to talk to Rusty. Rusty kept his distance from Sharon, but she understood. He was scared of getting taken away too. He knew full and well that if Daniel Dunn took them to court, Sharon would lose. They didn't stand a chance of staying with her with a biological parent pushing to have custody.

"He won't like us, Sharon," Rusty pressed. "Well he won't like me. Riley is like a puppy dog, she just let's you do whatever you want to her and she won't strike back, but I'm not like that. He won't want either of us when he finds out everything about us and... I can't let Riley get hurt again. I've already let her down a lot."

It touched Sharon how much Rusty really played big brother with Riley. He already felt like he failed as a brother and he didn't want Riley to be hurt again, even more than he didn't want to be hurt.

"It just makes me want to run away," Rusty said softly.

Sharon looked the boy square in the eye. "You can't runaway because that thing you try to run away from follows you. Where you go it goes." She glanced out the window, giving Rusty a break from her hard gaze. "But before you run away, why don't you give him a really good look in the eye?"

Rusty nodded as a small silence fell over them. "I-I know I already said that I was sorry for... for saying that you wanted to get rid of me. That was terrible." Sharon forced a small understanding smile, but it still hurt to think about. "And I don't really think that. I just feel like... like I don't belong here sometimes. Which is weird because you have been nothing but good to me. And I know that. I always know that."

It may have not been a hug, but it was something close to it for Rusty and Sharon. He may have looked his biological father in the eye last night, and he may have ran away from him, but he ran to Sharon. He ran to his sister and Sharon. Riley put her arms around her brothers neck and held on to him tightly.

Sharon gave them privacy as the held onto each other. She caught Daniel Dunn's eye as he moved toward the elevator. She didn't want those kids to go anywhere, but if Daniel Dunn was up to being a father, she couldn't keep him from doing it. Still, he would protect her kids tooth and nail and be sure that this man was up to the challenge before she let go of those two and trusted anyone with those two.

She had to be fair. For the twins.

As the twins came around the corner, both of them seemed to have pulled themselves together. They fell into step on either side of her

"By the way," Riley said to Sharon as they moved toward the exit, "Can Lieutenant Flynn come to dinner tomorrow night?"

"And Provenza," Rusty added.

"Cause, we wanted to show them that we can clean up sorta well," Riley continued.

"And they're sorta..."

"Good to us..."

"But if you say no it's totally okay."

Sharon smiled. It was still fun to watch them talk for each other. "Sure. They can join us for dinner tomorrow night."

The twins both smiled at her from either side. Was there a way to not love these two?

_**So... What do you guys think so far? Do you think we'll learn more about Riley and Rusty? I think dinner will definitely be fun and maybe a bit of Riley mischief will be tossed in, along with some Papa Bears with the boy that like Riley. What do you think so far?**_


	6. Dance

Flynn and Provenza stood in the Raydor's living room, both dressed in suits to attend the "family" dinner before the dance. Sharon moved from the kitchen, wearing a beautiful cream colored dress that came just about her knees that revealed her beautiful legs, which did catch Flynn's eye.

"Can we come out now?" Riley whined, even though they all could hear the smile in her voice.

"Hold on just second," Sharon called back picking the camera off the coffee table.

"You said that like two minutes ago!" Rusty complained.

"Okay, okay, you can come out," Sharon called to them smirking at Flynn and Provenza.

At the same time, Riley and Rusty appeared in the hallway. Riley wore a black dress that had silver lace over the shoulders and a silver ribbon around the waist. Her heels were also silver and low enough so that they were comfortable, which was something very important in Sharon's book. Rusty went with black pants, a red shirt, and a tasteful black a red tie. They looked great.

"Wow, kid, you clean up pretty well," Flynn told Rusty as Provenza spun Riley around.

"Absolutely beautiful," Provenza told her, earning him a big smile.

Sharon had been snapping picture since they walked out. "Okay, lets get a picture of you two together."

Rusty and Riley moved toward the center of the room and put one arm around each other. Riley gave her brother a playful look. "You know, you should really consider talking to Victoria," she teased. "She's pretty, and she thinks you're cute."

Rusty contorted his face. "Cute?"

Riley rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to use her exact words," she complained. "It's weird."

"Then I'm not telling you what Trey said about you," Rusty countered.

Sharon smirked as they fake glared at each other. Flynn on the other hand motioned toward Riley. "Come on, I didn't get a good look at you."

Riley's big blue eyes lit up as she ran over to him. Flynn offered her his hand and spun her around in much the same way Provenza had. She would never admit it, but Andy Flynn was already creating way too high of standards for Daniel Dunn to live up to be an awesome dad.

"Stunning, kiddo," Flynn told her fondly.

Riley blushed lightly. "Sharon did my hair and makeup. I'm not really good at that stuff," she told them quietly as she gently touched the perfect curls Sharon had done for her, before she looked over and met her guardian's eyes.

Sharon just smiled at Riley. "Well, we better get to dinner. Our reservation is at seven."

Flynn offered Sharon his arm as Rusty took the lead out the door, allowing Riley to fall to the back, Provenza a couple steps ahead of her. He stopped just before he got to the door.

"You coming?" he asked a little gruffly as Riley fidgeted with her key.

"Uh huh," she hummed back but didn't move.

Sharon stepped back toward the door to see Provenza standing there a Flynn and Rusty move toward the car, but before she could ask what was wrong Provenza moved toward Riley.

"What's the problem?" he asked her as she rubbed her hands together.

Sharon watched as Riley stared down at her feet. Provenza must have heard something because he squinted at her. "Kiddo, I'm old so you're going to have to talk a bit louder than that."

His words made Sharon chuckle and Riley lift her head. "You don't think they'll notice, do you?"

Both Sharon and Provenza are taken back by her question. "Notice what?"

Riley put one hand on her shoulder and rubbed it down her arm. "My scars. My dress kinda shows them."

It was suddenly another note to add to Riley's file, but Provenza didn't dwell on it for long. "If anyone at that dances notices anything but how beautiful you look tonight, then they're definitely crazy. And I know crazy."

Still, the girl didn't look completely convinced. "Did you notice them?"

"Not even for a second," Provenza replied honestly. "Now let's go before we miss our reservation and you have to eat pizza instead of four star pasta."

Riley seemed a little relieved as she took Provenza's arm as she had seen Sharon do not long before. Sharon hurried ahead, not wanting to let Riley know that she had heard any part of her small confession.

The secrets worried Sharon, not that she'd admit it was they all sat together at dinner. Riley sat next to her and on her other side was Flynn, making easy jokes about the twins practicing their dance moves beforehand. Sharon sipped her wine slowly as Rusty and Riley joked back and forth about school.

They really did look great in their new clothes. Riley's long hair covered her shoulders, but Sharon had a feeling Riley was trying to do it on purpose, but when Sharon actually looked, she could see the small circular scars near the back of her neck. It didn't take years of experience in law enforcement to know cigarette burns when you saw them.

Without much thought, Sharon rested her hand against Riley's shoulder as the conversations continued.

"How's choir?" Flynn asked Riley as she tried to master how Sharon could twirl her pasta with a spoon and a fork. At least the girl tried to have manners as Rusty ate like any teenage boy would. Sharon actually could care less how the girl was eating, the fact was she _was _eating. She had casually mentioned Riley's birdlike appetite to Flynn and his encouragement on what she should get, as well as his prompts for her to eat throughout the night nearly had the dish devoured.

Riley shrugged, but Rusty stepped in. "Apparently Riley is super good at music, at least according to Trey. He says that the Mr. Arnold calls her his little Beverly Sills, though no one actually knows what that means."

There were bright smiles and words of encouragement as Riley's cheeks turned pink. "Apparently Rusty's really doing well at chess too. Mrs. Long was saying that we may actually win a tournament with Rusty and Mr. Wright really wants him to join the Mathletes." But Riley lowered her voice and her eyes twinkled at her brother teasingly. "But that's social suicide."

Rusty rolled his eyes. "And that's from Mean Girls."

"Still true," she countered with a shrug and a smile.

Sharon looked down at her watch. "Well, there's still time for dessert, if you want."

Both teenagers hummed in delight. "Cheese cake!" Riley said decidedly, pointing to a picture of chocolate drizzle cheese that she had been eyeing all night.

"That does look good," Rusty agreed as her stole the menu from his sister.

Flynn looked over and caught the way Sharon was watching the two kids. Contrary to popular belief, Sharon Raydor was not a robot, especially not when it came to these kids. Also contrary to popular belief, these kids were far from monsters.

"Sharon?" Riley said softly leaning a little closer to her guardian. "You wanna share the cheese cake? I know Rusty will eat all of his, but I think I ate too much pasta for that."

Sharon was touched as she kept her hand on Riley's back and nodded. "Absolutely."

As they finished up dessert, Riley, Rusty and Sharon stood together for a picture. Sharon could let them get away without a picture of all of them done up together. Sharon tried to fix Rusty's hair a bit, and he grumpily let her, then she touched up Riley's bangs.

Flynn held the camera up as Riley stood close to Sharon with an arm around her waist and Rusty stood on the other side, somewhat smiling into the camera with one hand tucked into his pocket.

"You look great," Flynn said as he snapped a couple pictures. For a moment his eyes met Sharon's. "All of you."

That was it. All Riley's suspicions were confirms as Sharon's cheeks blushed a light pink. They liked each other! Like, like-liked. Riley's two favorite adults had the hots for each other.

When the twins were dropped off at the dance and they arrived back at Sharon's apartment, she politely thanked the lieutenant for the ride and moved toward the door. As Flynn watched her go, Provenza slapped him in the back of the head.

"Get out and walk her up. It's not like you need me to drive you home," Provenza complained as Flynn gave him a confused look.

"What are you talking about?"

"Look." Provenza shifted in the seat to get a better look at Flynn. "I'm your best friend, and though I don't like the woman, I really can't just sit here while you make puppy dog eyes at her. So go walk her to her door, get rejected, grow a pair, and move on."

Flynn glared at Provenza. "Yeah. Best friend. How is this-"

Provenza took a deep breath. "Do it, or sit in the car all night while I go find someone who think I'm attractive."

"That would be a long night," Flynn quipped.

"Then you probably wouldn't want to spend it in the car. Get out- get out- get out-get out- GET out!" Provenza continued as Flynn rolled his eyes and opened the door. He gave his friend a hard look and slapped the door behind him.

Sharon was still standing patiently in front of the elevator as Andy walked into her building and stood beside her. "I thought I'd walk you up."

She glanced at him with a slightly confused look. "Isn't Provenza your ride? Is he okay with sitting in the car?"

Flynn rolled his eyes. "He's going out tonight and told me I could find my own way home, so I guess I'll be calling a cab when you get up there."

Sharon chuckled and suddenly Flynn felt his stomach flip at the sound. Usually she was only this laid back with Rusty or Riley. He was pretty sure he had never heard the woman chuckle at the office. "You didn't want to go out too?" she asked him with a raised eyebrow.

Flynn shrugged. "I don't think I was invited."

She laughed again and Flynn could help but let a smile crack at his lips. She looked back at him and smiled too. "I think Rusty and Riley are going to have a lot of fun tonight," Sharon said with a bit of a content sigh as the elevator doors opened and they both stepped in. "They looked great."

"So do you," Flynn added trying to cover his nervous with a cocky smile. "You look good in that color."

Color came to Sharon's cheeks again. She knew that she should keep a professional distance between them, but her body just would not listen. Andy Flynn was an ass, he was cocky and had a disciplinary file thicker than one of the twin's Harry Potter books. But he was charming. He was handsome and sometimes even kind.

Plus Riley just loved him and Rusty treated him like he was a person.

He gave her a hard time sometimes, but at the end of the day, he was usually the first one to help her when she needed it. She wasn't very sure when it happened, but she was somehow hopelessly attracted to him.

Flynn hit the button for her and Sharon finally found the nerve to look over at him. A spark ignite when her green eyes met his brown. One that even surprised him enough to have to clear his throat and both of them looked away.

"You clean up nicely too," Sharon told him as the elevator dinged and they both stepped out.

Flynn's hand fell to the small of Sharon's back as she unlocked her door. "You can come in if you'd like," Sharon told him casually. "You should have to stand in the hall and wait for your cab."

Flynn walked in behind her and smiled as Sharon immediately kicked off her heels. She really didn't like wearing heels around the house. If she was home she wanted to be comfortable. He followed her into the kitchen and leaned against the bar as Sharon decided to put on some tea.

"So how are the kids adapting?" he asked, attempting to make normal conversation as she moved around her kitchen.

"Fairly well," she told him. "Riley's shy so she seems to have only made one friend of her own, but Rusty is really taking to the chess team."

"What about Mr. Dunn? Has he called any-" the mug Sharon had been holding slipped from her grip and hit the counter, somehow managing to stay in one piece.

"Sorry," she said quickly reaching for another mug. "Clumsy." Clearing her throat and putting the kettle on the stove she seemed overly focused in her work. "Mr. Dunn will be coming back by so we can have dinner together. None of us are happy about it."

Flynn didn't finish the call, just slid his phone back into his pocket at he watched Sharon. "I know you don't want them to go, Sharon."

The use of her given name made Sharon go frigid, but only for a second. "He didn't even care how scared Riley was when he followed her into the murder room," she snapped harshly, not really at Flynn, but at the situation. "Rusty really doesn't want to let anyone in after what happened with his mother and I can't say I blame him." She took a deep breath. "But he's their father."

"But you love them."

The words had never been openly admitted and for Andy to say them as though it was the most obvious thing in the world made Sharon feel uncommonly vulnerable.

"Of course I do," she replied softly. "How could I not?" She abandoned the heating kettle and walked over to where Andy was leaning. "But I want what's best for them."

"What if that's Daniel Dunn?" Andy asked her carefully, watching her guarded expressions carefully.

"Then... I let him take them," Sharon said simply, with a bit of a shrug. It was pointless to pretend the idea didn't hurt her, but she tried anyway.

"And if what the kids need is you?" he said watching her head raise again and a look of determination come over her features.

"They'll always have me, Andy. Just like they'll always have you whether you want to admit it or not."

Something happened. Their bodies were suddenly closer than they had earlier realized and their faces inches apart. She really was a beautiful woman. Stronger than anyone he ever met, but so so so loving. The ice queen was not an ice queen at all. When she cared for someone you could feel her love and protection almost radiating off of her and when someone she cared about cared about you, well, the love was almost contagious.

He didn't really plan on it happening, but his hands found her waist and held her in her place as she looked up at him. His eyes were bearing into her soul as he leaned in closer, hesitating to give her enough time to push him away, but she didn't. Her hand here on his chest, but as he leaned in just a bit closer, they ran up his shoulders and behind his neck to connect their lips.

It wasn't gentle at all. It was raw and passionate. Andy's hands tightened around her waist and he pulled her against him as her finger gripped at his hair. Her teeth nipped at his bottom lip and he ran his tongue along her top one for permission. Their tongues collided in a heated dual as he pushed her against the counter, lifting her so she was sitting on the granite. Her legs crossed around his hips as his hands ran up her thighs, just under the hem of her skirt.

They nearly jumped apart when the whistling of the kettle alerted them the water was hot.

For a long moment they froze there, looking at each other with chests heaving. Andy was desperately searching her features, half way wondering if he'd have a job come Monday.

Slowly her eyes fell away from his and she let herself off the counter to remove the still screaming kettle from the heat.

Andy was panicking. "Sharon, I'm sorry," he said rubbing his hand over his face and his bruised lips. "I don't know what-"

"Don't say it," she demanded softly. "Don't say you're sorry, because you're not, and I won't say it was mistake because it wasn't."

Her words stunned him to silence as she slowly turned around. "I just have to think about Rusty and Riley..."

Andy gave her a look. "What do you mean?"

"They like you, Riley especially and I don't want something to happen to make it awkward for them," Sharon replied.

Andy could see she was really fighting with herself. She wanted him, that he could see, but he knew where she was coming from. The kids were fragile and Sharon needed to put them first, they understood that.

"Sharon," Andy took a step closer to her and she didn't stray away, so he reached out and cupped her face. "I understand. What do you need me to do?"

Sharon looked up at him. She was so touched by his patience that it made a lump grow in her throat as her hand slid over his. "Be there for them."

Andy took a step closer, his lips lingering close to hers. "I can be there for both of you."

She let him take her lips again, this time more gently, but she cut it short. "If you want," she said softly, nervously. "You can stay until I have to go get the kids and I'll drop you by your place on the way back."

Their fingers intertwined and she smiled up at him as they moved to the couch, the tea forgotten.

Andy wanted to keep her close and she wasn't very willing of going anywhere as they both laid on the couch.

"I really don't understand why the twins like Provenza so much," Flynn mused after a long time of silence, watching some show that neither of them were paying attention to.

Sharon smiled to herself. "Riley says he's a grumpy old man. But she says it with a smile. Honestly I think they like poking the bear."

Andy laughed as well. "That's pretty true." He looked over at the clock. "What time is the dance over?"

Sharon glanced at the clock too. "I'm glad you said something, I was comfortable enough to stay right there all night."

Sharon rolled over and stretched as she stood up. Andy was right behind her as she pulled her heels on again. Suddenly she turned back around to look at him, a serious look in her eye. "I need a favor, and while we're breaking one rule, we might a well bend another."

"That's one way to get my attention," Andy deadpanned as Sharon rolled her eyes.

"Riley's last home. The Kilburns. Is there any way we could find a reason to check on them? Any overdue parking tickets where he is misguided and led to Major Crimes' office, or something." Andy gave Sharon a confused look and she sighed. "I need to know why Riley is so afraid of them and if someone hurt her, then I want something done about it."

Andy nodded. "I'll see what I can do."

As she reached for the doorknob, Andy grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him. Sharon giggled, _yes giggled_, as she looked up at him expectantly. "I know you're going to have to kick me out of the car the moment we pull up to my place but," he pulled her as close as he possibly could and leaned into her, "I think I need one for the road."

Forty five minutes later, Riley and Rusty were all smiles as they walked through the door of Sharon's home with Sharon just behind them, locking the door.

"And-and- Sarah Michaels wasn't allowed into the dance," Riley continued to laugh looking over at Rusty who was also laughing, "because he dress was too 'skimpy' as Sister Lucile said."

"You should have seen Gretchen Peters nearly fall on her face when she tried dancing in her ridiculously high heels!" Rusty added making his sister laugh even harder and offer her a fist bump.

Sharon laughed along with them. Riley's giggles were absolutely infectious and it tickled her that they had fun.

"Okay, guys, it's late. Time for bed," Sharon said with a smile even though both teenagers groaned.

"But it's still the weekend," Rusty complained as Riley yawned.

Sharon smirked. "Bed. Now. I'm not letting you sleep through your entire Sunday."

Both kid groaned and got up from the couch. They quickly wished Sharon goodnight and disappeared into their bedroom.

As Sharon laid in bed a little while later, a book in her hands and her glasses on the edge of her nose, there was a light knock on the door.

"Come in," she called, not all that surprised to see Riley just out of the shower in her long pajama pants and t-shirt. "Yes?"

Riley took a step toward her, watching Sharon carefully. "I know you said that Daniel is taking us to dinner Monday night, but you are going with us, aren't you?"

Sharon put down her book and slid it onto the table beside her bed. "This time I am."

There was a very obvious frown on Riley's face. "So next time you won't."

Sharon sighed and sat up, patting the bed so Riley would get closer and sit there. "I can't keep you from him, no matter how much I'd like to. You need to try to get to know him."

"But what if-"

"He has no criminal history," Sharon said firmly, but for some reason she wasn't taking a whole lot of comfort in that fact either. "And I'll always be right here if you need me. A phone call away."

Riley fidgeted for a moment before looking back up at Sharon. "Okay." Slowly the girl stood up and moved toward the door. "And Sharon?"

The captain looked up at the girl standing the doorway, barely looking over her shoulder at her. "Thank you again, for letting us act normal."

And she was gone. Off to bed. Sharon sunk down in her bed and flicked off the light, but she didn't sleep that night. There were too many things on her mind. Including a certain lieutenant.

_**So.. I can't decide if I want to wait for what happened at the Kilburn house to wait until after Daniel Dunn is gone or not. Next chapter I'm definitely bringing Phantom back. Hope you guys enjoyed. Please review! Oh.. And what did you think of the Flynn/Raydor moment? I wrote it very carefully and I'm still a little worried. **_


	7. Another Name to the List

Daniel had taken the kids out for a couple dinners. Each night, Riley would return quieter and Rusty would be irritable.

"He's an ass, Sharon," Rusty complained as Riley poked at her breakfast. "He kept interrogating Riley 'cause she wouldn't say much. He kept asking me about sports and if I played and when I told him about the chess team he looked at me like I was crazy."

Sharon just listened as Rusty went on at the breakfast table. She knew full and well he was not happy about him taking the twins to dinner without her, and even less thrilled that Daniel wanted them to spend the weekend with him at his fiancé's place. Rusty could easily handle it, but she worried Riley would not do well when put on the spot by near strangers.

"Rusty, he's your father," she reminded him, even though she wanted to tell him it was perfectly fine if they didn't go this weekend. Hell, she'd take the weekend off and spend it watching movies with them if it meant them being with her. "It's just a weekend and you'll have Riley with you."

They both looked at Riley expectantly, but she kept her eyes on her plate. It was disconcerting to Sharon that Riley felt absolutely no need to speak her mind about Daniel. Maybe she thought her complaints didn't matter because in the end, they would still have to spend time with their father and it was pointless to waste her breath.

"He already pushed it off to today," Rusty continued to complain over breakfast.

Sharon looked at her watch. "Well, I have to be at the office so-" She clapped her hands for effect and watched as both of them cleared their plates, rinsed and stacked the plates in the dishwasher.

As they moved toward the door, Sharon stopped Riley. "Did you take your medicine?" she asked routinely.

Riley nodded and started to move again, but Sharon stopped her. "Did you put it in your bag for tonight?"

With that Riley turned back around and headed into the kitchen, revealing and shaking the pill bottle as she reappeared walking toward the door.

Sharon pressed a kiss to Riley's temple. "Just checking on you," she told her as they followed Rusty to the car.

"I know," she muttered, still bitter.

They all were going to have a long weekend.

Both kids stood around nervously as they waited for their father. Sharon could see Riley trying to talk Rusty down, but he was already furious. Daniel Dun was already thirty minutes late and tardiness was not tolerated by the twins.

Sharon could see that despite the fact they weren't thrilled about going with their father for the weekend, him not showing up was hurting more than they would ever admit.

"Hey, Captain," Andy said from behind her, pulling her from her thoughts. Sharon turned to him and pointed at the large police dog waltzing into her murder room and looking around for something. Then she casually walked to the captain's office where the twins were and pawed at the door.

Sharon was baffled as Riley opened the door for the dog and they both sat on the floor while Rusty ranted.

"Did that just happen?" Sykes said with a curious smile on her face.

"I think Phantom likes her," Sanchez chuckled watching as the dog seemed to pay just as much attention to Rusty as Riley was. "Or them."

Sykes looked back over at Sharon. "Considered getting them a puppy?"

Sharon's face fell. She couldn't get them a puppy, that just meant they would have to leave something else behind when they left and something else for Sharon to look at and remind her how much she missed them.

Sykes kept looking at Sharon for an answer, but she never got one as they refocused on the case. Nearly an hour later Rusty stormed out of the office going on about how he's not going anywhere with Mr. Dunn until he learned how to tell time.

Riley quietly followed behind him with Phantom at her side to the break room. Andy glanced over at Sharon, but she only checked her watch again. An hour and a half. These kids had been waiting an hour and a half and nothing so much as a phone call yet.

"Want to go talk to them?" Andy asked her softly as he pretended to look over her shoulder at whatever she was working on.

"No," Sharon sighed. "Riley won't say anything and Rusty will just fight. It's better to let them cool off for a moment."

Andy nodded and placed a supportive hand on her lower back, only for a second though so no one noticed. Why was everything in her life so damn complicated? Right now, she would have loved to take _her _kids home and tell them that they absolutely did not have to go with Mr. Dunn and then tell Andy that he was welcome to dinner tonight.

She knew it wouldn't happen like that, and usually she didn't complain. She was already given a blessing by those two kids and Andy was... that was the complicated part.

Rusty slammed his back pack down and pulled out his notebook. Riley just watched him. "Maybe he won't show up and we'll get to stay with Sharon," she offered hopefully. "Maybe he decided twin were too much and-"

"No, he'll show up. Just late," Rusty said with surety. "Don't get used to the idea of staying with Sharon, Rye. It's not going to happen."

Phantom yawned and Riley hugged the dog around the neck. "Maybe we can at least figure out a way to get to visit Sharon, spend some time with her-"

"Don't be stupid, Riley!"

"I'm not being stupid, I'm being optimistic!"

Phantom barked at both of them as their argument continued to argue.

Sharon had already pretty well told Daniel just what she thought of him blatantly disregarding the twins' feelings when he rescheduled for this morning and then showed up two hours late. She didn't care about his fiancée or her daughters, she cared about Riley and Rusty. That was it.

As she walked into the room, she noticed the tension between siblings. Even the dog was on edge. Phantom watched Daniel carefully as he got close to the kids. There were two momma bears in the room and it was pretty obvious that if something happened, Daniel would not survive it.

Riley and Rusty were silently sitting next to each other. Riley with her headphones in and Rusty writing in his notebook.

Phantom sat at the kids' heels, watching every move Daniel Dunn made while Sharon leaned against the door, unwilling to leave them too.

"I gather that you're angry with me because of all the schedule changes," Daniel tried but neither of the kids even turned to him. "On top of everything else, I was on the freeway much longer than I-"

"Does your phone not work or something?" Rusty grumbled. "Because calling when you're going to be late is just, like, good manners."

"I'm sorry, but I-" Daniel saw the way Riley was already glancing at Sharon for help as she pet the dog that looked like it would only take a word of permission for it to rip his leg off. "If I pulled off to call, then I would be even later-"

Rusty spun around."When I'm really looking forward to something, I'm, like, an hour early." Then he shook his head. "But forget that. What you need to know is that I wait ten minutes. And then I'm gone. Because my time is worth something too."

Sharon was proud of him. He was finally realizing that he was worth something too and no one, even this man that was his own flesh and blood, would make him feel otherwise.

"And what about you?" Daniel asked Riley, failing to keep all the edge out of his voice.

Sharon could feel her own blood boiling at the hint of irritation in Daniel's tone. She could see Riley shift as she looked up and met Daniel's eyes. "I guess we weren't on the high priority list."

It may have been the most he ever heard her say and it pretty well laid out just how much she did not like him.

Before anything else could be said, Andy knocked on the glass and looked at Sharon. She nodded at him, but stayed in her place by the door.

The twins both looked at her. "Sharon, it's okay. I got this," Rusty told her and Riley nodded once.

Sharon looked both of them over, even looking down at the dog. "Okay. If you _decide _to leave. Just talk to me before you go," she told them. Then she looked at Mr. Dunn. "Daniel." It was probably one of the harshest things the twins had ever heard her say, but it was definitely a solid farewell and maybe even a "screw off".

Daniel sighed as Sharon closed the door behind her. "Why don't you tell me how to make this right?"

"Do you actually want us to spend the weekend with you?" Rusty snapped. "Because it doesn't seem like it."

"Look, I'm sorry bud," Daniel tried. Both the twins hated it when he called one of them "bud"; it didn't sound natural. Not like when Sharon called them "honey" or "sweetie" or Provenza and Flynn called them "kid" and "kiddo". It sounded like fake. "Traffic was bad and-"

"Just answer the question," Riley demanded. "It's not a hard question."

Daniel hesitated for a moment. "Yeah, of course."

The twins looked at each other. Provenza had told them that they should give them the man the benefit of the doubt. He was blood. But they could hear it. Daniel wanted something from them and maybe when he realized they didn't have it, he'd leave them alone.

"Fine," Rusty said speaking for both of them. "We'll go."

Together they walked to find Sharon and tell her that they had made a decision. They would spend the couple days at Daniel's. They needed to get it over with.

Rusty squeezed his sister's hand and she gave him a weak smile. "You were always the strong one."

He laughed at her. "You were always the good one."

She laughed too and they both looked up to make eye contact with Sharon. Immediately she dropped what she was doing and followed them into the hall. Daniel was waiting yards away and both the twins looked nervous as they tugged on their backpacks.

"We're going," Rusty told her firmly.

It seemed impossible for her to completely hide he should. She looked at Rusty first, then Riley who gave her a firm not. "Are you sure?"

"We know when people want something, and he wants something," he explained as he continued to hold tight to his sister's hand.

She was very proud of them. They stood together no matter what and they were lucky to find such support in each other. "I wish I could go with you," she told them softly.

Riley looked away, but Rusty didn't. "Me too," he said softly.

Sharon normally knew better than to hug Rusty, he wasn't the huggy sorts, but she couldn't help it. She wrapped her arms around him as Riley stood beside them. He had never been hugged like Sharon had hugged him. When Riley hugged him, she would cling to him, and he'd cling to her, like they were the other half of each other and the only other person in their world. But Sharon's hugs were different. He guess that this was what a mother's hug was suppose to feel like, but he could remember his mother ever giving him so much comfort, much less with a single action. He found himself clinging right back to her for several seconds, until she gently pulled away.

Riley waited patiently for her goodbye. Sharon hugged her too, and as she pulled away she placed a kiss to her forehead. Then she looked at both of them. "Call me if you need me."

"We will," Rusty told her as he started to turn around, but Sharon stopped him.

"Say it again."

He looked her in the eye with a bit of a smirk. "We will."

Then she looked at Riley expectantly and the girl smiled up at her. "Yes, ma'am."

"Thank you."

Together the twins turned and walked toward the elevator and Sharon followed behind them, giving Daniel a closed mouth smile.

"Don't worry. I'll take good care of them," he assured her.

For a moment, Sharon almost told him that he better, but she knew that she couldn't say that to their father. A simple "okay" slipped out instead, as it was the only thing she could really think of.

It was going to be a hard weekend without them, but they all had to do it.

When Daniel pulled up to the large house on the "rich but not super rich" side of Orange Country Rusty and Riley looked at each other. Daniel mistook their looks as excitement. "There's a pool around back too."

It was very obvious that they did not fit in with this life. A tall blonde woman walked out of the house talking on her cell phone. She seemed to be very invested in the call she was making, so much so she really didn't even acknowledge her fiancée's two kids getting out of the car.

They barely smacked lips as they passed each other and Daniel moved into the house. Rusty and Riley really had no choice but to follow him.

"Hi!" a little girl, around five probably, said as she popped out from around a corner. "Are you the twins?"

Riley nodded as Rusty just sorta stared at her.

"You don't look alike," she mused. "Austin and AJ are twins and they both look alike. Sometimes the teacher can't tell them apart."

"We're not identical," Riley told her, bending down to her level. "That's how come I'm a girl and he's a boy. We don't have to look alike."

The little girl smiled at her. "You're nice. Think we can play together this weekend?"

Riley returned the smile. "Sure."

Riley always liked kids, not that Rusty didn't, but Riley took to them easier and they took to her. Both of the little girls kept asking Riley a hundred questions about what high school was like and where she lived.

Around eight o'clock, the girls had to go to bed and Rusty and Riley discovered that their weekend with Daniel really didn't mean they'd be spending time with him. Not that they were complaining. They were quite used to be ignored, and quite frankly, at least they were offered food. Annie, Daniel's fiancée, hadn't said two words to them, but they didn't care about that either.

"Should we call Sharon and let her know we're alive?" Riley asked as they sat together on the bed of the guest bedroom.

"I think if we call her she'll think something is wrong," Rusty replied. "Besides, she'll ask questions I don't want to answer and she'll be able to hear that we're not happy in our voices."

Riley frowned. "You're right." But she still wanted to call her and by the look on Rusty's face, he did too.

"We should text her!" Riley offered suddenly.

"And say what? That we miss her?" Rusty snorted, but watched his sister's reaction. He did want to tell her that he missed her, but Riley was much better with the emotional stuff, she knew whether or not it would be appropriate.

"I _do _miss her." Taking out her phone, Riley typed the message.

_Super boring. The little kids are nice. Ready to go home though. Miss you. _

Then she turned it around and showed it to Rusty. He frowned a little. "Maybe you should say we both miss her."

Riley gave her brother a small smile and fixed it before hitting send.

Less than a minute later, Riley's phone chimed.

_S- Your beds are ready for you when you get back. Don't forget to take your medicine. Miss both of you._

Just as the kids couldn't have known how much Sharon smiled at their text message, she couldn't have known the feeling the twins had gotten at hers. Riley didn't think they had ever been missed by anyone before. They always felt like they were in the way no matter where they were, but with Sharon it was different.

As they laid in bed that night, Riley twiddled her fingers and stared up at the ceiling before finally rolling over to look at her brother on the twin bed across from her. "Hey," she whispered loudly. "Are you awake?"

Rusty groaned. "Yes."

Riley sighed. "Can you turn on your answering machine so I can leave a message?"

There was a moment of silence before Rusty groaned again. "Beeeeeeeeep."

Riley smiled, knowing that he was willing to have one of their late night conversations now. "It's not terrible here, Rusty. Really. I've been to worse places. We both have."

Rusty rolled over and let his sister know that she had his full attention. "But you want Sharon?" he asked her.

"You want her too. No matter what this Annie does, she can't be our mom like Sharon Raydor has been. We might as well say hello to boarding schools where we won't see each other and in the summer we'll get sent to camps," Riley complained.

"You're exaggerating." Rusty rolled his eyes. "They don't have _that_ much money."

"My point is, maybe this is our punishment for being whores," Riley said sadly turning over and laying on her back again. "We don't get to be really happy."

Riley was surprised to hear her brother start laughing from the other side of the room. She looked over to see his silhouette clutching his stomach as his laughing continued. "You know if Sharon heard you say that, I bet she'd regret ever sending us to that Catholic school." He looked over at his sister. "You better stop worrying now before you start getting the Catholic guilt line on your forehead."

A slow chuckle started in Riley's throat before she also found herself in a full out laugh with her brother.

Their motto lived on. They would be alright as long as they had each other.

As they ate dinner together the next night, both of them could help but be glad that they got to go home. To Sharon.

"So, Rusty, Riley," Annie began looking from one twin to another. "How did you guys manage with your mother gone?" Riley's cheeks burned red. "I mean-" Rusty's hand found his sister's and squeezed it reassuringly. "Two kids, living alone, no money. How on Earth did you manage?"

Rusty just shrugged and Riley kept her eyes on her food that hadn't really been touched.

Daniel looked over at them. "Annie's asking you a question."

Glares shot up from Rusty as Riley looked helpless at their father's fiancée. "It was hard, but we managed."

Of course that wasn't good enough for Annie. "But _how_? I mean you're just kids."

Riley struggled for words as Rusty turned around and glared at the woman. "A lot of men like young whores."

"Rusty!"

It had come from both Riley and Daniel, but Riley's sounded like she was begging him to be quiet.

"I mean, it wasn't just Riley though. Guy hustling was more of my thing. Gotta do what you gotta do to survive," Rusty continued digging into his meatloaf.

Riley tugged on his arm. "Rusty, please."

"She asked, in fact she insisted, we tell her how we managed. So I did," Rusty reminded his sister coldly.

Daniel look at his horror struck fiancée and grabbed Rusty by the arm. "I need to talk to you. Outside."

Riley jumped to her feet and followed them, not caring that Annie was calling after her not to. She could see the two arguing as she pushed over the storm door. Daniel suddenly reeled back and hit Rusty.

Without thinking, Riley lunged and shouted at Daniel. She didn't really know what she said, but after Daniel's second blow to Rusty's face Daniel grabbed Riley.

"You're trying to ruin everything aren't you!" he shouted at her, nearly lifting her off the ground as he shook her. "You hate me so you want to-"

Riley pushed out of his grip and stared at him nervously. He didn't even hesitate before his fist slammed into her face too.

Rusty was on his feet in a second and tackled Daniel to the ground and grabbed his sister's hand. They bolted into the house, snatching their bags and took off into the street. They ran. They ran away. And they kept running until their sides stung and their legs wanted to give out.

Riley's cheek was already heavily bruised and so was Rusty's face. "How much money do you have on you?" he asked her as they rested probably over two miles away at a truck stop.

"Uhh..." Riley reached into her bag and pulled out her wallet. She looked inside. "Woah."

She held up a hundred dollar bill. "I think this is from Sharon."

Rusty pulled out his own wallet and held up the same thing. "I'll call a cab."

As much as they wanted to call Sharon. They couldn't. They knew that. Riley looked up at her brother and pulled him into the light.

"Your face looks terrible," she said pouting a little.

He rolled his eyes and poked his sister's own bruise. She hissed and pushed his hands away. "That's totally not funny."

"Maybe it'll look better in the morning," Riley said touching her own face where it hurt.

"You know it won't. It'll look worse," Rusty reminded her as he called the cab.

Rusty unlocked Sharon's door and tossed his bag on the coffee table as Riley locked it back behind them. She grabbed some ibuprofen then followed Rusty into his room. She offered some pill to him before taking some herself and sunk to the floor beside his bed.

"What are we going to tell her?" Rusty groaned.

"The truth. She won't accept anything but, you know that."

They both sighed in unison.

"Rusty? Riley?" They heard Sharon call as she walked in. Both twins exchanged looks. "Are you home?"

Riley got to her feet and really wished she could hind this bruise like she had others before. Rusty looked like he wanted to do the same.

"What happen?" Sharon called again, this time closer.

"Can-can we talk about it in the morning?" Rusty asked, knowing his voice would be much more convincing than Riley.

"Is everything all right?" Now she was right outside the door. "Is your sister with you? Do I owe Daniel a call?"

"No!" Riley yelped suddenly moving toward the door. Calling Daniel would only cause more problems. "We're coming out... Just... don't freak out. Okay?"

Rusty beat her to the door and opened it. Sharon's hand flew over her mouth as she looked at Rusty. "Oh God."

Immediately she grabbed his arm and directed him into the living room.

"It's okay. I didn't hit him back," Rusty assured her as though that's what she was worried about. "Riley pushed him away and he grabbed her-"

Sharon stopped suddenly and saw Riley several steps behind them. A large bruise covering her cheek bone. Her blood boiled at the sight of them as she took Riley with her other arm and guided both of them into the living room.

"We ran," Riley told her softly, ready for her to be disappointed.

"And used the money you gave us to get a cab."

Sharon sat both kids on the couch as she took a seat on her coffee table (breaking one of her own rules).

"My God, what did he do to you?" Sharon mumbled. It was weird to see her so serious without her glasses and in her jeans and cardigan. She tilted Rusty's chin up and looked at the her. It wasn't good. His lip was busted and his eye almost swollen shut. Then she turned to Riley. Her cheek was bruised and there were finger print bruises around her arms.

"What happened?" she asked them softly.

"Annie kept asking us about, well, how we made it without Mom-" Riley began and her brother cut in.

"And she kept asking even when Riley tried to brush her off and Daniel got all snippy so I just told her. About the gay hustling."

"And bluntly told her I was a whore." Rusty glanced at his sister surprised that she sounded a little hurt.

"Well, you were. I told her I was a gay hustler, what's the-"

Riley's glare silenced him and Sharon looked between them. There was a lot of information getting thrown at her and she could tell that both kids were much more upset than they wanted to admit.

Sharon got up and moved to the kitchen to grab some icepacks, figuring it would encourage the kids to talk more without her staring at them.

"Then Daniel got all mad and grabbed Rusty and took him outside. And I followed them."

"Which was stupid," Rusty snapped at his sister.

Riley glared at her brother. "You would've done the same thing."

Sharon reappeared and handed each of them an ice pack.

"He accused me of trying to ruin his wedding and I told him that I could care less about his wedding and he hit me," Rusty told Sharon as she held ice against his cheek and Riley pushed away her own ice pack. "And then Riley came out of nowhere and Daniel knocked me down and grabbed Riley."

Suddenly Rusty's eyes darkened. "He grabbed her and shook her and kept yelling. I swear I don't think her feet were touching the ground but all she did was glare at him. She didn't say a word. Just glared at him and then he hit her."

Sharon turned to Riley who just shrugged. "Ice. Face. Now," Sharon instructed to Riley put she pushed the icepack into Sharon's lap.

"We're past the ice stage," Riley said simply and Rusty gave her a sympathetic nod.

"How can you be sure?" Sharon pressed handing the icepack back, only for Riley to push it away again and Rusty lower his own.

"Mom's boyfriends did this to me once a week," Rusty explained. "Until I kicked his ass and he dumped us at the zoo the next day."

"Why didn't you call me?" Sharon said feeling more hurt than she'd like to admit. She thought they had built a trust, but apparently not.

"We knew you'd be upset," Riley told her looking down at her hands in her lap.

It took her a moment, but Sharon realized that they were not worried that she would be upset with them, but upset that she allowed them to be alone with the man who did this to them. Yes, she definitely felt like she let them down, it was her job to keep them out of danger now.

Sharon touched Riley's face, but she pulled away a little.

"Look, did we do anything we have to apologize for?" Rusty asked as Sharon tried to not show she was stung a bit by Riley's retreat.

"No," she told him certainly as she grabbed the first aid kit and pulled out a alcohol wipe to get some of the dirt and blood of Rusty's face. "We are past the apology stage of our relationship with Mr. Dunn. And we have moved on to the 'please don't let me drive over to his house and shoot him in the head' phase."

Rusty tried to laugh but Riley didn't find it so funny. She also wasn't so against Sharon shoot Daniel, not that she'd outright admit it. Just like she wouldn't admit another parent failing for her and her brother stung more than she expected it to and how she secretly worried that she would one day have a similar fate as her parents.

"On the bright side, I guess we don't have to go back to Daniel's house right?" Rusty offered, knowing his sister did need to think about the positive side.

"No," Sharon said with finality. "But there's a good chance that he's going to come here." She held a tube of something on her hand then thought for a moment. "Before I put this on your lip, let me get some pictures."

When she was done, Riley escaped to her bedroom with barely more than a whisper goodnight, but Rusty was more hesitant. "Sharon, I know you said that when I run away, I take what I'm running from with me..." Rusty looked her in the eye. "But it's different this time, but I didn't run away. I ran home. Right?"

Sharon swallowed hard, realizing that this was the first time he had referred to her apartment as her home, at least to her. "It's always okay to come home, Rusty."

With that he gave her nod and disappeared into his bedroom.

Sharon could kill Daniel Dunn. She _wanted _to kill him. Riley fell into her painful silence as Rusty felt the need to apologize for things that weren't his fault, including Riley getting hurt. But she insisted both of them go to bed and she'd deal with things in the morning. For now they needed to sleep.

And she needed to think.

She fell against the back of the couch and hugged the throw pillow across her chest. Just as she took a deep breath, she jumped at the sound of a knock on the door.

"Dammit..." She muttered remembering that Andy was coming over. She jumped to her feet and hurried over to the door, holding a finger over her mouth to make sure he didn't say anything to disturb the kids.

Andy gave her a puzzled look as he stepped inside, pecking her lips as he moved.

"Rusty and Riley are back," she told him in an urgent whisper.

He looked toward their bedrooms. "I thought they were coming home tomorrow."

"Well, that was before Daniel Dunn punch Rusty in the face twice and Riley once," Sharon told him bluntly, unable to hide the anger that was still brewing and making every move she made rigid and fierce.

The fury was contagious as Andy stared at her. "Are you serious? Why the hell are we not in the car driving to his place to throw the bastard in jail?" he snapped a little too loudly.

She hissed at him to watch his volume. "Because those kids are _never_ going back to that house. They are never going to be alone with Daniel Dunn again and I need to make that happen. I want him to come to me, beg _me _to let him say his apologies, then watch as he apologizes to those kids and remind him that they are so much more important than anything in his tiny little world!"

Andy was taken back. He had never seen Sharon so angry. Well, he had seen her angry, but she looked locked and loaded and ready to shoot. Tears were brimming in her eyes as she continued.

"I let them go with him and I let them down. They've been through hell and back and I just let them take an express trip again!"

Carefully moving toward her, he pulled her into his arms. She was rigid at first, but she returned it easily. She let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding in.

"You didn't let those kids down, Sharon."

She choked on a half sob. "It feels like it."

"Sharon?"

Andy and Sharon nearly jumped apart, but Sharon wiped her eyes before she turned around to face the girl that stood in the hallway wearing navy shorts and a hot pink tank top. Riley's long hair was already messy as it hung down her back.

"Yes, honey?" Sharon tried to say with certainty and strength

"I-I just wanted to talk to you..." Riley mumbled as she stepped closer and the light revealed the purple bruise to Andy.

He moved to her and lifted her chin. "Please tell me he looks worse," he grumbled, meaning Daniel, as Riley refused to me his eyes.

"It's okay. Really," Riley assured him, offering him a smile that Sharon hadn't seen all night. Even if it was a weak one, it was a smile.

"You sure, kiddo?" Andy asked her this time making sure she looked him in the eye.

"Rusty got the worst of it," she told him. Suddenly Riley threw her arms around Andy's waist and clung to him. She didn't cry though. She refused to cry.

Sharon placed her hand on Riley's shoulder and was pleasantly surprised when Riley spun around and went into Sharon's arms. She held her and kissed her hair. "Go ahead and wait for me in my room, I'll be right there."

Riley nodded and reluctantly let go, leaving the two adults alone in the living room once again. Andy looked at Sharon. She gave him a weak smile. "I think I'll have to call rain check on our night," she said sadly.

He pressed his lips against hers. "I understand. But if you wake up tomorrow and decide to shoot him, I'll be you alibi."

She chuckled and led him to the door.

As she returned to her bedroom she found Riley sitting on the foot of her bed staring at her bare feet. Riley looked up at Sharon. The tears were there, but much like Sharon Riley wasn't ready to admit she was hurting as much as she was.

"Riley-"

"Why does this keep happening?" Riley snapped immediately her voice breaking.

Sharon was shocked as she carefully moved toward the broken hearted girl. "Why does what keep happening, honey?"

Riley couldn't find the words to answer as she looked at Sharon weakly. "I just- I just don't want to be hurt anymore."

The poor thing sounded exhausted. "I don't want you to get hurt anymore and I will do my absolute best to insure it." Sharon held the girl as Riley's head fell onto her shoulder. "But you look like you could use some sleep, and so could I."

Riley nodded but didn't move. "Sharon?"

"Hmm?"

Her big blue eyes looked up into Sharon's green orbs. "Can I sleep with you tonight?"

How could she possibly say no to that sweet face. "Absolutely."

That night, Riley slept tucked into Sharon's side with her head resting against her chest. Tomorrow the bruising on her and her brother's faces would only look worse, but eventually the physical damage would go away.

But what would remain with them was that another person they were supposed to be able to count on let them down. That they're father was no better than their mother and they could just add his name to the list of people that hurt them.

Another name on that list was Wesley Kilburn, and Sharon was going to be damn sure that this man also paid for what he had done.

_**So. This chapter was really long. Sorry about that. I hope you enjoyed and I would love your feedback. Next chapter should be fun. **_


	8. Means Something

Riley sat in the kitchen with her headphones blaring as she wrote in her notebook. Her dirty blond hair was wavy from being let air dry and her bare feet were moving back and forth to a rhythm. There was a light hum coming from her mouth as her non-writing hand moved along as though she was playing an invisible instrument. She was wearing skinny jeans with pale pink t-shirt and a jean jacket over it while her brother that sat next to her wore his favorite hoodie and jeans.

It had been three nights since the twins returned home and their bruises were starting to fade to an ugly yellow color. They didn't say much else since the night they came home. The whole team reacted similarly to the twins bruises. They were pissed that Daniel hit Rusty, but they were murderous at the idea he hit a girl too. That didn't go over well with gentlemen like them, especially not when it was one of their own.

Riley had asked if Andy could come over for dinner, and Sharon was very eager to say yes. Rusty needed to talk about something other than school, and Andy was good with talking Dodgers and other "male" things with him, and it just made Riley feel a little safe, not that she'd ever admit it.

Sharon was stuck on how Riley claimed she didn't trust men, and in the beginning that was extremely obvious. Even in the office she'd keep her head low and speak as little as possible to any male that approached. Did she really sense that something was different with Andy because Sharon herself trusted him?

If it was true then Riley's trust with Sharon was much stronger than she would have thought possible a couple months ago.

"Are they going to talk?" Andy asked her as she allowed him into her apartment.

"I can hear you. She's the one with headphones in," Rusty mumbled as he tried to finish the last couple questions on his home work. "I have like... three questions left on this page."

Andy glanced at Sharon and she felt herself smiling. They were really great kids.

Riley pulled out her headphones and stretched. For a moment she paused to take in her surroundings like she was just waking up or coming back from another dream world. Then her eyes fell on Andy.

"When did you get here?" she asked, hopping off the bar stool, beaming at him.

"Just a second ago," he told her as Rusty stood too.

"Good. Sharon said we had to wait until you got here to eat," Rusty complained slightly earning a dirty look from his sister and a stern one from his guardian.

"It's good manners, Rusty. I took the afternoon off so I could make dinner and maybe we can go out after this," Sharon told him as Riley moved to her spot at the already set table.

Sharon watched as Rusty joined his sister and Andy applied light pressure to the hand he had on the small of her back. He knew she was simply glad they were there, but he didn't know how much they had really changed since a few short months ago. Riley was not so quiet and constantly positioning herself with the nearest exit and through Rusty could still be rude, he often showed that he genuinely cared about Sharon and doing well in school.

Andy sat while Sharon brought the food to the table. As usual, Rusty filled his plate and Riley poked at hers. Before Sharon could say anything about it, Andy jumped in.

"Come on now, Riley. Sharon made all this food and that's all you're eating?" His words were light. Riley was a smart girl, she knew what he was trying to do.

"I'm just not all that hungry," she explained, offering both Sharon and Andy a pleading look.

Sharon frowned a bit. The girl really needed to start eating somewhat regularly. The entire time Riley had been living with her she had maybe had two whole meals at a sitting. "Are you sure? There's plenty, and I know you like stir fry."

Riley nodded. "It's really good, I'm just not all that hungry."

There was no use in arguing with her, Sharon decided. Instead she brought up school. "How's Chess club?" she tried with the other twin as he stuffed his face.

Taking a large swallow of food Rusty smiled. "Our first tournament is next week. You can come if you want." Sharon beamed at him as he looked expectantly at his sister who was still just poking at her food. Then he sighed. "You said that if I invited her to my chess thing you'd invite her to your recital!"

Daggers shot from Riley's eyes at the mention of the thing. Andy looked between the three of them humorously. They were definitely becoming an odd little family.

"I was going to. You don't have to push me," Riley growled.

"You didn't even tell me! I had to hear it from Victoria going on about how Mr. Arnold handpicked you to do a solo and all the upper classman are pis-"

Sharon shot him a warning look, which he caught just in time.

"-super mad about."

Andy turned to Riley. "You got a solo! That's great!"

Riley's cheeks only continued to turn pink as she poked at a piece of chicken on her plate.

"Mr. Arnold said she has been working really hard and has real talent," he went on, trying to get Riley to open up about it. "She even gets to pick her piece."

Sharon was very proud. Mr. Arnold had been there since her kids were in school and she could remember his high expectations and heavy standards. The fact that Mr. Arnold thought the girl had talent, meant she most definitely did. The fact he was giving an under classman a solo meant that he wanted to showcase her and that was something Riley should be proud of herself for.

"That is great, sweetie," Sharon told her watching as she poked her chicken some more. "Have you decided on a piece?"

The girl sighed as she pushed her plate up a bit. "That's the problem. I can't find something that really means something," she complained looking at Sharon for help. "I know I still have a month, but it's so frustrating... I think I' m going to stay after school tomorrow and practice some of the handouts... maybe I can use an older piece. I should go to the music library and-"

Sharon shushed her. "Riley, there's no need to get so worked up about it."

But in Riley's mind, there definitely was. She had never played in front of a real audience before and the idea was terrifying. Music was personal and expressive and that was dangerous to her. It wasn't like playing chess. Sometimes she wished that was her skill. That she wasn't the artistic twin and she was the logical, math and science like her brother.

Sharon reached for Riley's plate, but she politely declined. "I'll help you with the dishes," Riley offered, surprising her.

Still, Sharon didn't argue as Riley cleared the rest of the dishes and carried them over to the sink. Sharon wrapped the leftover food and put it in the fridge as Riley silently began filling the sink with suds and water.

They boy were talking baseball. Dodgers, the past World Series, batting averages. Sharon could tell that Rusty didn't know a lot about the game, but he wanted to know more. Andy was happy to teach the boy everything he knew.

"I can do the dishes," Sharon offered noticing Riley seemed to be focusing on something on than the knife she was cleaning.

"I don't get it," Riley complained, still holding the knife, admittedly frightening Sharon a bit. Not because she thought Riley would attack her or anything, but Riley was a little high strung at the moment and waving a knife with emphasis. "Why on Earth would Mr. Arnold chose me? It's throwing me under the bus. I can't play piano and sing in front of an audience! Plus the upper people already don't like me."

Sharon skillfully caught Riley's hand and stole the knife away from her without actually throwing her off tract with a tight smile.

"Mr. Arnold would not give you a solo if it was not well deserved," Sharon pressed watching Riley's face carefully. She look straight ahead, her forehead wrinkled and she seemed to be deeply conflicted. "Riley, you should see this as a compliment."

"I see it as a conspiracy," she huffed, not really complaining. She seemed honestly confused and worried about what this meant for her high school career. "I'm sorry, I know I should be honored, but it's... Why me? I have to pick a song and sing and play and... I don't think I can do that..."

Sharon smirked. Riley seemed so little sometimes as she looked up at Sharon like she had to know all the answers. It made her feel so good to know Riley had so much faith in her.

"Riley," she told her softy, putting an hand on her forearm. "Just... take a step back. Take a deep breath. Accept that you're talented and you deserve this, not as some sort of conspiracy, but you deserve this."

The confusion in the girl's eyes made Sharon hurt a little. "But why? There are other people who deserve this. Other people who won't get the chance next year. I know it's just the fall recital, but it's important to a lot of seniors."

"I, regrettably, have never heard you play, but if Mr. Arnold thinks you have talent, then you must." Sharon could see the argument all over Riley's face, but before she could get the words out of her mouth, Sharon pulled the girl into a tight hug.

The girl was almost crying. She was so bad about keeping the pain out of her face. "You are worth something too, kiddo."

Sharon wasn't sure where the words came from, but the way Riley's wet hands clutched onto the back of Sharon's shirt as the little girl buried her face in Sharon's chest. No one had ever bothered to tell Riley that. Ever. Rusty had found worth in being a witness, people needed Rusty. It always felt that she was just the tag alone. They were a package deal, and even though they just wanted him they had to have her.

"Rusty seemed content tonight," Andy told Sharon after the kids had gone to bed. She was leaning against him on the couch, with an easy view of both rooms so she could quickly escape the moment she heard a door open.

"He's settling in pretty well now." Sharon sighed as Andy held her around the waist. He knew she was concerned about the children. He had seen the way Riley reacted to the positive attention and he was concerned as well.

"She's trying," he reminded her.

"So am I. We're just..." She huffed. "I think you should go before it gets too late. They have school in the morning and I'll see you at work."

Andy knew that he was being pushed away so she could contemplate and sort out the problems she had in her head, but he didn't mind. Tonight had been a goodnight.

He held her by the waist as she stood up. For a moment all the worry was gone as she looked up into his eyes and lazily intertwined her fingers behind his neck. "You know, you have a lot more heart than you let on," she mused as she pecked his lips.

"Don't tell anyone, it'd ruin my reputation," he fired back kissing her again.

She walked with him to the door, sure to lock it behind him. Sharon spent most of the night thinking about all the names on the list of people that had hurt those kids, and wondering if something happened between her and Flynn, if there would be two more.

The next day, Riley sat in the practice room, her fingers dancing over the keys playing the music she had been given earlier in the week. She felt like she had it nearly mastered, the vocals were fairly simple, but Mr. Arnold wanted her to learn the instrumental as well.

Her cell phone vibrated against the side of the piano.

_Daniel showed up. Flynn said Sharon was an ice queen. Go Sharon! She also wants to know when you're done. -Rusty_

She checked the time. It was already almost five. Grabbing her backpack and shoving some music inside, Riley's phone chimed again.

_Are you not coming to the library? It's Wednesday. -Layla_

"Crap..." Riley muttered as she pushed through the practice room doors and hurried to the front doors of the building. She replied to Layla first.

_Be there ASAP. Meet me at the Diner. -Rye_

Rusty would just have to wait until after she met up with Layla. She already felt bad for forgetting. Wednesday was the only day Layla was ever able to get away, but she had to be home by six. Wednesday was also the day Riley usually made her stop by the library to meet up with her.

As she rounded the corner, Riley caught the image of Layla sitting at a booth. Layla was a secret Riley kept from everyone. In a way, she was a weakness, a vulnerability that she was not willing to risk.

Big brown eyes lit up as Riley came around to her. The mess of brown curls immediately hurried to embrace her and hug Riley tight. For a nine year old she had a hell of a grip.

"How are you?" Riley asked, checking the girl's face for any signs of suppressing information.

The little girl shrugged as they moved back into the booth. "The new girl still hasn't learned how to just be quiet... She cries a lot too. He just gets annoyed with her."

Riley cringed at the mental images. A small silence fell over them as the waitress took their orders. It was always the same thing. Layla would get a burger with cheese fries and Riley would get the house club with chips. Riley always paid with the money Sharon would put in their backpacks for lunch, even though she often packed them a lunch as well. When she was sure she had enough for her Wednesday dinner with Layla, she would out some more minutes on Layla's prepaid phone so they could stay in contact or buy her a new shirt or something.

"I really miss you there," the girl muttered not long after their food arrived. "You always stuck up for us."

Again Riley cringed. The memories of Wesley Kilburn shouting at the younger kids, hitting them and screaming at them made her stomach churn. When Riley would get between them he would grab her and take her into the back bedroom.

Another shiver ran through her spine.

"If he ever touches you-" Riley began as Layla shrugged at her.

"You were the only one he was like that to. I can handle getting knocked around a little." The big brown eyes smiled up at her. "I'm tough."

Staying firm, Riley met her eyes. "I know you are, but people like him-"

"Riley?"

Both girls nearly jumped out of their skin as Buzz and Rusty stood in the door way of the diner. There was a moment where Riley could see Layla's fight or flight kick in, but when Riley met her eyes, she calmed down.

"What-what are you doing here?" Riley asked her brother as Buzz looked between her and the little girl sitting across from her.

"Grabbing some dinner for everyone at the station." Rusty looked at her suspiciously. "Why didn't you tell me you were here? And who are you?"

Before Riley could answer Buzz jumped in. "Does the captain know you're here?"

The blush on the girl's cheeks answered the question. She looked pleadingly at him. "Let me take her to the bus stop and I'll help you carry the food back. Okay?"

Riley didn't wait for an answer, just slapped money on the table and nearly dragged the little girl out of the booth. As they got to the stop, Layla wrapped her arms around Riley again and held her close.

"If anything happens, if you get hurt, call me," Riley instructed as she looked down at the little girl.

"That was your brother wasn't it? Is he gunna be mad?" Layla asked as she continued to hold tight to Riley's waist.

"Only that I didn't tell him about you."

The stepped apart and Riley pressed her lips to Layla's forehead. The little girl was her roommate while she was in the Kilburn home. There were three other kids, Layla the oldest out of them, Wesley would knock around when he got mad. The other two were placed with a grandparent not long after they came, but Riley always tried to save the kids from as much of the pain as possible.

Eventually Wesley Kilburn took a liking to her. She was a young woman, not a child. She was pretty and daring, and Lisa Kilburn was the bread winner. She worked six days a week as a nurse, seeming to be completely ignorant of her husband's temperament with her lovely foster kids.

Wesley started to refer to Riley as his girlfriend, a cruel sort of irony.

What Riley did for Layla was something that her mother never did. She never put herself in front of her boyfriends when they lunged at her or Rusty and Riley could help herself from doing what her mother didn't.

"Don't forget to hide your phone as soon as you get there, Layla," Riley told the little girl. She may have only been a foster sister for a little over a month, but she was a sister to her now. "And stay safe."

Riley glanced past Layla to her brother and Buzz standing on the corner watching her as she ran a hand down the girl's dark curls. "I mean it."

Layla nodded. "I know."

With that, Riley let go of the girl and moved toward her brother and Buzz. She didn't look at either of them as she was handed a plastic bag. She knew she'd get an earful from Rusty when he got the chance, but first he'd have to stand behind Sharon.

As they entered the murder room, if felt like the whole room was staring at her. Buzz must have called Sharon and everyone knew Riley was in trouble.

There weren't many rules with living with Sharon. Actually, there were a ton of rules, but there weren't many that meant you were in super hot water if you didn't abide by them. Riley could already hear her own pot boiling.

"My office, missy," Sharon snapped pointing to the door.

Not even Rusty followed as Riley hung her head and handed Andy the food as she past. Sharon calmly closed the door behind her and took a seat at her desk. Suddenly Riley felt about two feet high.

"Care to tell me where you were?" Sharon asked coldly, studying her through the spotless lenses of her glasses. Suddenly Riley found her shoes extremely interesting.

"I was at the diner around the block."

"And when did you leave school?"

"Around five."

"And why didn't you tell me you left school or you were going to the diner?"

Was that a tinge of hurt in Sharon Raydor's voice? Riley looked up to see the hints of gentle features that wanted to understand, and suddenly she just wanted to cry for hurting Sharon. The one person in the world who hasn't ever given her a reason to not trust her, other than her brother.

"I-I couldn't," Riley stuttered, her eyes pleading with Sharon's to understand. "You would ask too many questions..."

"I _have _to ask questions. It's my job." The phrase had a double meaning. It was her job as a detective but it was also her job as her guardian. That was why Riley couldn't tell her.

When Riley didn't respond, Sharon sighed. "Who was the little girl? Buzz said that you were very protective-"

The normally gentle blue eyes glared up at Sharon. "Leave her out of this. She didn't do anything."

"Riley, I'm just trying to-"

Sanchez opened the door. "I'm sorry, but Captain you're needed."

Sharon looked at Riley for a long time. She had seen the look Riley was fighting before. She was protecting that little girl from something that Riley honestly believed couldn't be stopped by Sharon or the LAPD. But Riley was scared herself. She was shaking slightly even.

There was only one question left for Sharon to ask.

"Does this have something to do with Wesley Kilburn?"

The expression on Riley's face was enough of an answer.

_**Please review. **_


	9. Inspiration

Rusty was pissed as Riley gave him as little details as possible about Layla. Referring to her only as her foster sister from the home she was in, and saying that she just like to check up on her every now and then. She was suppose to share stuff with him, especially stuff that was so important to her. They were suppose to have each other's back, and he couldn't do that if she wouldn't tell him what the hell was going on.

Sharon had taken them home, but she didn't stay around much longer than to tell them to finish their homework before TV and tell Riley that their conversation was far from finished. Riley went straight to her room, slamming the door behind her.

Rusty rolled his eyes and went after her. She didn't even bother to lock her door, knowing that he would come in right behind her. The whole point of slamming her door was not to keep him out but to vent a small amount of her frustration out.

He watched as Riley laid face down on her crimson comforter. "What?" she grumbled, never taking her face out of the comforter.

"Are you going to tell me who the hell that kid was?" Rusty shot back his own anger fiery.

She sighed as she rolled over and forced herself to sit up. "Layla. She's my foster sister. I just like to make sure she's okay."

Rusty watched his sister. "But why keep her a secret? How come you never told me about her?" He looked at his sister as she focused on her hands in her lap. "What the hell happened at that house that you're so afraid of?"

Riley bit her lip and sucked in a breath. "Rusty. I don't ask you questions about what happened that night you were at Brenda Leigh Johnson's house so what happened that night that _everyone _else needs to know. So don't ask me about what happened in that house."

For a moment they looked at each other. Fair. It sounded fair enough. Rusty put his hand on his sister's shoulder. "Wanna raid Sharon's movies?"

Riley almost laughed at his randomness. "Think she has anything good?"

Rusty thought about that for a moment. "Doesn't seem much like a 'The Lake House' type of person," he mused.

"Or 'The Fast and Furious'," she tossed back.

Two minutes later they were sitting on the floor, going though Sharon's movies below her entertainment center. Apparently Sharon's collection was mostly of classics. She had all seven The Thin Man, Dirty Dancing, but she also had some other kind of classic.

"Oh my gosh! Alice in Wonderland!" Riley beamed happily holding it up and watching as Rusty rolled his eyes.

"She has a lot of Disney classics."

Riley was very happy about this. "I think I like her a little more!"

Then she picked up a movie that was near the back of the stack. "'Dances with Wolves'. Huh. What about this?" she offered to her brother. "I've never seen it."

Rusty took it from my hands and looked at it. "It's two hours long, no, longer than that. Sharon will kill us if she comes home late and we're still up."

Riley just shrugged. "I'm dead anyway. Might as well watch the damn movie."

They watched with awe, throughout the entire movie there was silence in the room. Even glares shot at one another over yawns or shuffling that interrupted their concentration.

Sharon was exhausted. The paperwork could wait until tomorrow and she just wanted to check on the kids. After a night that ended with telling a boy that his father died to protect him and watching her people kill the bastard who took the father's life. Not to mention the incident with Riley as well. Sharon just wanted to go home, no, she needed to be home.

Andy had offered to drive her since she had left her car at her building anyway. He could tell she was upset and tired, but he couldn't help himself from glancing over at her poker face. Never letting anyone see her cry was how she got so far in her career and how she managed through being separated from her husband for twenty years. She refused to cry after a hard day no matter how tempting it could be.

"Sharon," he called to her softly.

She turned to him as though nothing was wrong. It was her stoicism that was always so impressive yet so infuriating. He touched her face, cupping it firmly but gently. "Sharon, it's been a rough day."

The words sank in to her as his said them. "Tomorrow won't be easy either."

Tomorrow meant Daniel. Tomorrow meant talking to Riley about Wesley Kilburn. Tomorrow meant she did not get to rest. She had to wake up and experience another long day. She needed a break. She needed time to think.

"But I'm here," he told her, looking into her eyes. "You don't have to go up stairs to your bedroom and be alone. You aren't alone."

Her hand covered his on her cheek and she gave a watery smile. "Thank you." It was a lame response, but he understood. That was why they worked. Though they were complicated and not much like a couple at all at times. They moved slowly, the kids always came first and Sharon was not willing to put them on the line. She would thank him forever for that. For moving at her pace.

"I still have to go in there," she said almost sadly as she leaned in closer, really wanting him to just kiss her.

Of course he obliged, pressing his lips to hers. Resting her head against his she smiled at him. "Goodnight, Andy Flynn."

He chuckled softly. "Goodnight, Sharon Raydor."

Their lips brushed each other.

As she unlocked the door to her apartment, she could see the light from the TV on and music playing as credits rolled. Rusty was asleep on the couch, but Riley was standing barefoot in the kitchen, her headphones in her ears. Her back was to Sharon, but she seemed to searching for something in the fridge.

Sharon smirked as she walked to her, gently touching the girl to earn her attention.

Riley ripped her headphones out quickly and spun around to see Sharon looking tired, but it brighten her day to see that Riley actually looked happy to see her.

"I was waiting for you to get home," she whispered, sure to not wake up her brother.

"It's almost one in the morning," Sharon replied, failing to sound harsh. Truthfully, she was happy to see Riley awake, it made her feel slightly less alone. "You should be getting to bed."

Riley nodded knowingly. "Medicine then bed." But Riley didn't move. She just kept looking at Sharon. "I'm sorry about what happened."

The surprise on Sharon's face confused Riley. "With me lying and all. I just didn't want Layla to get hurt."

"What do you say we save this conversation after I get some sleep?" Sharon offered, not because she was blowing the girl off but because she was that tired. She could barely keep her eyes open as they stood there.

The girl gave a small, tight smile and nodded. She leaned over and kissed Sharon's cheek. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, kiddo," she replied softly as she stepped out of the way for her to go off to bed.

"Should I wake up Rusty?" Riley asked stopping just long enough to glance at her brother on the couch.

Sharon waved a hand at her. "Let him sleep."

Riley laid awake, dozing slightly as she thought about what was go come soon enough. The conversation about her personal hell was definitely around the corner and she really didn't know if she could handle it. She wasn't sure if she would be able to stand the way Sharon would look at her afterward, or Flynn, or even Rusty.

By the time she went to bed the next day, she may not feel like the same person anymore.

"God, Rye, what happened?" Rusty yawned looking at the mess in the kitchen his sister was standing in looking guilty as sin. He watched as she held up her flour covered hands and shrugged.

"I think I overestimated my abilities," she commented weakly.

Rusty could only laugh as his sister stood there, hands covered in flour and her shirt spotted with it too. She looked absolutely pathetic.

"Help? Please?" she said finally, nearly dying at the idea Sharon's alarm went off in less than an hour and all Riley could so for her attempt at breakfast was a terrible mess.

Rusty laughed and looked at his sister's mess in the mixing bowl. "What were you trying to make?" he asked smirking at her poor excuse for a recipe.

"Pancakes. From scratch," Riley muttered trying to get some of the mess off her hands.

"Well," Rusty took a scoop of pathetic powder mix, "this is just sad." With that, he blew the handful into her face.

He couldn't help but laugh at his sister's face. Her entire face scrunched with the powder making it almost completely white. "Fine," she grumbled grabbing handful of flour herself and blowing it in his face.

Laughter exploded in the kitchen as white flour puffed like smoke into the air and around the kitchen.

Sharon rolled over in her sleep and grudgingly opened her eyes to the sound of giggles. She failed at being angry at the sound that woke her. Throwing off her covers, she slipped her red robe on and walked out of her room.

The giggles only got louder the closer she got to the cloud of white puffing around the corner of her kitchen. "You should _never _try cooking, Rye."

The girl giggled even more. "I was_ trying _to do something nice. See where that got me? Sharon's gunna kill us."

Sharon already had a fair idea of what she was going to walk into, but she had to have a little fun. As she rounded the corner to her kitchen, she was fairly surprised at the level of mess in her kitchen but also the powdery white children trying very hard to sweep up the catastrophe.

"What on earth happened?" Sharon growled, trying her very best to stay serious as both children jumped and turned around.

Guilt spread over Riley's face, but she also was looking fairly amused. Rusty on the other hand had to cover his mouth with his hand to prevent his laughter from escaping.

"I, uh," Riley ran a finger over the flour on the counter, "can't cook." The smile cracking at her lips, but it was contagious.

Sharon tried to hold her stony expression but slowly started to break. When Sharon broke into her own chuckle, the twins joined her until tears were nearly rolling from their sides hurting. She shook her head while Rusty kept trying to knock some of the mess onto the floor for Riley to sweep.

"This is going to take forever," Rusty complained as Riley ruffled his hair and giggled as a cloud came out of it.

Sharon pursed her lips. "Why don't you two get yourselves cleaned up and I'll get this? You can use my bathroom, Riley."

Rusty fake pouted as he looked at Sharon. "How come Riley gets to use your shower and not me?"

Before Sharon could answer Riley jumped in. "Cause she doesn't want her bathroom smelling like boy," she teased sticking out her tongue.

"_And_," Sharon cut in being sure her voice held the authority, "Riley doesn't care about using my body wash and smelling like a girl."

The girl gave a toothy grin and skipped off to her bedroom for her school clothes. Rusty looked at the mess. "We can help you clean it up. It was our mess, well actually it's Riley's, but-"

"It's fine, Rusty. I'll take care of it, then I'll get cleaned up and we'll go out for breakfast," Sharon offered smiling at him. He still looked torn so the grabbed him by the shoulders and steered him toward the hallway. "Shower. Go."

Rusty grumbled but with a smile.

She didn't know she could be so happy to find her kitchen partially destroyed at six o'clock in the morning. Riley was making herself comfortable enough to dance around her kitchen in the middle of the night and even try to make breakfast in the morning. Though, cooking was not her strongest skill.

She was happy.

Three hours later, Sharon was a little too chipper as she walked into the murder room. Andy raised his eyebrow at her as she walked into her office and took a seat at her desk. He shot a look around the room to be sure no one was watching before heading into her office as well.

She greeted him with a big smile as she dropped her bag to the floor and comfortably fell into her seat. "So. I spent my morning cleaning flour off every inch of my kitchen, but Riley tried to cook me breakfast. Though it was not the outcome she wanted, I feel great."

Andy smirked at her as she leaned forward and rested her chin against her folded hands. "And I took them to Nina's, the little diner down the block from my condo and Riley actually ate. Rusty gave me a hug before he got out of the car and both kids were smiling."

He loved seeing her so happy. "And you were worried it was going to be a bad day," he commented lightly.

Sharon shrugged. "It will be a long day. Daniel's still coming and I still have to talk to Riley, but those kids... They're worth it."

Andy just smiled at her. "Well, I'll leave you to your paperwork. I'm sure you have more than I do and I'm drowning it in."

Before he made it to the door, Sharon called out to him. "Come to dinner with us tonight," she told him, smiling knowingly.

There was a moment that Andy caught himself mesmerized in the way she was looking at him, but he quickly snapped out of it. "Sure."

Riley sat down on the grass in the courtyard and looked at Victoria taking a large bite of an apple. Rusty was at a picnic table playing chess with Nick. Trey was picking at his guitar at the end of the bench. Each of them seemed to be in their own little world.

Riley pulled out her sandwich Sharon had packed for her. Victoria eyed it. "Trade ya my turkey for your ham."

"Sure." They handed off, but Riley still wasn't interested in her lunch. Instead she decided she would make conversation. "So, you and Nick huh?"

Victoria shrugged. "We've been dating for a year and a half. The sex is great, but he's kinda an ass sometimes."

Riley stared at her. "Aren't you in the abstinence club?"

Victoria held up her hand to reveal her purity ring. "Yes, but only for my father's benefit. Mom already knows the thing's a lie." She looked over at Riley and rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, not everyone can be Miss Innocence like you."

If Riley would have been eating, she was pretty sure she would have choked. Hell, she almost choked on her on saliva. These people really didn't know anything, but in a way that made Riley feel a lot better.

Grabbing her backpack, she threw it over her shoulder. Victoria gave her a strange look.

"We have another half hour before we actually have to go back to class, where are you going?"

Riley shrugged. "I think I'm going to work on some music for a while."

Victoria rolled her eyes and let herself relax back into the grass.

All the practice rooms were empty so she took the largest one, loving the way the baby grand sounded against the walls. She dropped her backpack against the floor and pulled out the large binder of music. It had been given to her a month before and she had already nearly mastered half of the song provided.

Mr. Arnold watched her though the glass of the door. Her fingers glided easily over the white and black keys. He had many talented students, but Riley was talented and dedicated. He could count on one hand the students that he had in his thirty years of teaching that could even be placed in the same skill bracket as Riley and she was only sixteen.

He had a couple more years to prepare her for college auditions. She could go so far...

Riley sighed and let her hands fall from the keys.

Mr. Arnold knew that look. It was the look of confliction. Smiling softly, he knocked on the glass and let himself in.

"What's the problem?" he asked her as she marked a sneaky B minor in her music.

"I need a song for the concert, sir, and I want something that means something," she tried to explain.

Mr. Arnold frowned. "Every piece of music means something."

"Yes, but I want something that means something to me." Riley sighed and stretched her fingers. "This is my showcase piece. They'll already hear me play and sing, but this is the piece that is suppose to show a little piece of me. But it's hard for me to do that."

She didn't like people knowing her very well, she like how people make their own assumptions of her because nothing could be worse than the truth.

Mr. Arnold sat beside her and thought for a moment. He knew she was a foster child with a rough history, but he didn't know much else about her past. Though, he did know Sharon Raydor. He had been in a band that played for her ballet recitals when she was much younger. He had a decade on her, but he would never forget the way she moved. Her daughter was also a talented ballerina, and in some ways watching the young Raydor girl dance brought him back to how talented her mother was.

It amused him that such talented people could find other talented people. Fine arts was something that was a part of a person, not like basketball or baseball.

"What's important to you, Riley?" he asked her. "What has changed your life?"

Riley shifted. "I'm not sure I want people to know that..."

A gentle smile took over his feature. "In order to make great music, you must take a risk to feel it."

With that, Mr. Arnold placed a hand on her shoulder. "I think I know what song you should perform."

When Riley and Rusty made it to the murder room, Riley was nearly skipping, beaming happily as she hurried to where Provenza, Flynn, and Sharon were talking.

Sharon couldn't completely hide her amusement as she looked at the girl. "Yes?"

"I have my song. The song for the recital." Riley's blue eyes were twinkling with excitement as Sharon smiled back at her.

"Well," Provenza commented, "are you going to just stand there or are you going to tell us what it is?"

Riley leaned back and crossed her arms as Rusty rolled his eyes. "It's a secret," he informed them. "If we want to hear it we have to go to the recital."

The was a confirmative nod from his sister as Sharon chuckled lightly. "Okay, well, go ahead and start your homework. Daniel will be coming eventually and I'll let you know when he arrives."

Rusty and Riley faltered a little bit at the mention of their father, but nodded. Before they could reach their cubicle, Riley stopped and noticed her usual companion hadn't followed her into the murder room.

"Where's Phantom?" she asked Sharon, tipping her head to the side and furrowing her brow.

Sharon glanced around, just recently noticing the dog's absence. The canine had gotten to a point that it just laid beside the door of the murder room until the kids got out of school then followed the twins around until it was time to go home. Then she looked at her two lieutenants. They both looked just as confused.

"Maybe she was needed in the field. She's not a pet, you know," Sharon reminded them gently.

But sure enough, the large German Shepherd came trotting into the murder room with a large rawhide in her mouth. She dropped the bone at Rusty's feet and panted at him happily.

Rusty patted the dogs head and looked at Sharon. "She must have forgotten what time it was," he offered lightly as the three of them headed toward the cubicle.

Provenza smirked. "Robbery homicide has been wondering why their canine has been escaping to our office. Should I tell them that she's found friends?"

Sharon shrugged. "Maybe it's time Major Crimes got a canine."

All three of them smiled before going back to work.

Sharon stood between Riley and Rusty at the opposite end of the table as Daniel Dunn. Flynn and Sanchez stood on either side of the man, and Phantom let out a low growl every time Daniel attempted to get any closer to the children. There was a room for a people, and a German Shepherd, that were more than willing to let the worst happen to the man that hurt those two kids. No they weren't perfect, but no one deserved what happened to those kids.

No matter what excuses he made, Sharon had the recording of Daniel admitting to child abuse. He could sign over his parental rights, or he could go to jail and have them taken from him. It didn't matter what his fiancé Annie wanted and it really didn't matter to anyone that this could ruin his wedding. The fact of the matter was, he was getting out of their lives.

"You have just ruined my life," Daniel snapped at the twins as he clicked the pen and signed the papers.

Rusty leaned forward, his teeth clenched. "Good."

Riley remained silent, clinging to Sharon's arm like the nervous girl she was. Daniel looked at her, the easiest one to bully. "What about you? You going to say anything? Or are you just going to stand there and let your brother do the talking for you."

Andy clenched his fists as Sharon's eyes narrowed at the man, but Riley took a step forward. "Go to hell."

Daniel gritted his teeth but said nothing as he stormed out of the conference room. His part in their life was officially over. He couldn't take them away from Sharon, or make them live with him. He could never hurt them again.

The team cheered and sighed the paper as witnesses. Riley hugged Sharon and Rusty joined in.

"I never thought I'd be happy to be an orphan," Rusty commented making Riley choke on an agreeing chuckle.

Sharon held them tight, closing her eyes and for once not caring that she was showing a little more emotion than she normally did around her squad. "You have a family, we're your family."

Later that night, Flynn had made dinner for Sharon and the twins at her place. They laughed and had fun together. Riley and Rusty mentioned watching the forever long movie "Dances With Wolves" the night before, and though it was good, it was still long. Sharon laughed saying she had a soft spot for the film while Flynn went on to comment that the white Indian girl looked _just _like Sharon.

It was peaceful. They had a lot to look forward to.

Weeks pasted and Sharon and Flynn's relationship became better defined. Though they never kissed or really even touched in front of the kids, both twins knew very well what was going on. They were happy for Sharon.

Sharon went to almost all of the chess tournaments Rusty had, all of which he placed in. Though Sharon wanted very badly to find out more about Wesley Kilburn, she could not find a single reason to bring him in. According to everything she could find on him, he was an outstanding citizen. Even paid his bills on time.

Before Sharon knew it, Riley's recital was around the corner and soon enough it would be Christmas.

Sharon had finally fallen asleep after what seemed like too long of laying awake in bed. There wasn't a real reason behind her restlessness, but she couldn't make herself sleep only for the sound of her phone ringing to wake her up.

Of course they would have a murder.

She left a note on the table, but also let Riley's know she was leaving. Even if she told Rusty, he would be too tired to remember it.

As she appeared at the crime scene, she was greeted by a very grave looking Andy Flynn.

"It's a kid."

Those three words never failed to make her stomach drop at a crime scene. She took a deep breath and prepared herself as she walked toward the light. The sand made it difficult for her to walk in her heels, but Andy offered his hand to her as they neared the lights that had been set up.

The small body was laying face down in the sand. Brown curls were wild from the nearness to the water. Sharon nodded at the coroner to turn over the body as Buzz filmed.

As soon as he did, Buzz froze.

"She looks to be about nine or ten. We need to get a description out so we can get an identification..." Sharon began, only to be shocked when Buzz touched her arm. The poor boy looked like he was going to faint. She understood completely. "Kids are hard, Buzz. You can take a minute."

But he shook his head. "Captain, it's not that..." Slowly he peeled his eyes off the girl and turned to the captain who was watching him expectantly. "That's the girl Riley was with at the diner."

_**Layla is dead and Riley will definitely think she knows who did it. But will this go the way she wants it to? Bum bum bummmmmm. **_


	10. Scars

_**Thank you Murphycat, Guest 1 & 2, Razmend, Megan429, MunchkinLoves You, and FearlessJayne for your reviews. Much more to come! **_

Sharon covered her mouth with her hand as her eyes studied the body in front of her. There were bruises around the girl's neck but that's all she could see without touching the body so anything further would have to seen at the morgue. God, she was so little. So young.

It's always hard when it's a kid. It's hard before you have kids, it's harder when you have kids, and there's always this certain dread that lives in the pit of your stomach at the idea of having to tell the parents. Sometimes it's difficult not to get caught up in the empathy. What if one day a police officer knocked on the door to your home.

But right then, that wasn't even the hardest thing for Sharon to think about. She knew she was going to have to tell Riley.

Riley was going to be completely broken by this. Sharon had come to realize just how important Layla was to Riley. Riley wanted to protect the girl from something that no one ever protected her from.

Now all Sharon wanted to do was protect Riley from the hurt that she knew she couldn't. She was going to have to tell Riley that the little girl she tried so hard to protect was murdered. As much as she didn't want to be the one to break the girl's heart, Sharon knew it had to be her. She was going to be the one that told Riley as gently as possible about the little girl she thought of like a sister.

She squeezed her eyes closed and rubbed her face.

"Captain, did Riley eat with Layla last night?" Provenza asked her as she pulled herself together and stood up.

"Yes, she does every Wednesday," Sharon replied uneasily. She knew where this was headed and she honestly didn't know if she was up for this line of questioning.

Provenza nodded. "When did she get home?"

"About ten-ish. She went to the school to practice for the recital afterward and stayed late," she replied knowing that this didn't sound good.

"Was her director there? Or any other students?"

"Not that I know of. All the soloist or serious music students have keys to the music building for extra after school practice." She bit her lip. She knew what he was insinuating and even though she understood she didn't like it. "You know Riley didn't do this. For God's sake, she carries spiders out to the balcony because she can't kill them."

Andy smirked at that, but Provenza just looked a little upset. "You know I have to ask, Captain."

She sighed and shook her head. "What am I going to do?" she muttered weakly.

No one had an answer for her. "Did she seem upset or anything when she got home, Captain? Was she acting normal?"

Sharon rubbed her face and threw her hand into the air. "She just went straight to bed. Ten o'clock is bedtime on school night. She hugged me and went to bed. I reminded her to take her medicine like always and she took that and her bottle water into her room."

Provenza looked at her. He seemed like he honestly didn't want to go this route either, but it wasn't a matter of want. "You know we're going to have to question her," he told her sadly.

She knew it was inevitable, but she wasn't sure Riley would ever forgive her. She looked at her watch. By the time they made it back to her apartment the kids would be getting ready to leave for school.

"Then we'll do it now," Sharon said decidedly. "I'm not pulling her out of school, we're going to talk to her now."

Andy and Provenza both nodded. It was going to be easiest for them if one of them did the questioning. There was no way Sharon could. Sharon would be the parent, holding Riley's hand through all of it. That was her job in all of this now, to be Riley's parent first.

Guilt flooded Sharon as Riley and Rusty beamed at her when she walked through the door, but their expressions quickly changed to confusion when Provenza and Flynn came in behind her.

Rusty took a bite of his cereal as he carried it around the kitchen. "Uh, I didn't make breakfast this morning. Should I have?" he asked Sharon who had one of those bad news smiles on her face. Both twins were uneasy, recognizing the expression quickly.

"Riley, I need you to come sit over here," she told her. "Rusty why don't you go to your room for a bit."

Both twins looked concerned and suddenly Rusty stood very close to his sister. "What's going on?" he demanded as Riley furrowed her brow.

Provenza was especially gentle as he put his hand on Rusty's shoulder. "We just have to ask Riley a few questions."

"Well then I'm staying. There's no reason for me to have to leave if you're just asking her questions," Rusty fired back as Riley continued to look more afraid.

Everyone turned to Sharon who just shrugged. The kids sat on the couch, Riley between Rusty and Sharon, and both lieutenants took the chairs on either side. Riley looked at Sharon, seeming more like a small child by the second. "What's going on?"

But Sharon didn't say anything, instead she just put an arm around her shoulders and held her close, her other hand on top of Riley's. "Riley, when did you and Layla finish eating last night?" Flynn asked her gently as Sharon squeezed her hand.

"Like, five. I walked her to the bus stop before I headed back to school," Riley told them holding tightly to Sharon's hand now. She wasn't stupid. She knew something terrible had to have happened last night for these people that were in her trusted circle to be questioning her like a suspect. "What's going on? Did something happen to Layla?"

Both lieutenants ignored the question. "And was anyone else in the building while you were there?"

Riley shook her head. "No, but I signed in on Mr. Arnold's clip board. I signed out too." She turned to Sharon who already wanted to hold her. "Sharon, what happened?"

Sharon glanced at the two men in front of her before turning to Riley and talking her other hand too. Rusty watched her just as worried as Riley as tears started building in Sharon's eyes. "Sweetie, that call this morning-" Riley was already shaking her head, knowing what was coming next. "-it was Layla."

Riley was on her feet, shaking her head viciously as she paced back and forth. Sharon was also on her feet, tears barely at bay in her own eyes. "No-no-no-no-no," Riley kept repeating, each time the word making her closer to tears. "No!" She turned to Sharon as tears rolled down her cheeks. "He did it, Sharon. He killed her."

"Who's he?" Provenza pressed as Sharon took Riley into her arms and kissed the top of her head.

"Wesley Kilburn," Riley choked into Sharon's chest. "He killed her."

Rusty looked at Flynn. "What if he tries to hurt Riley too?" he snapped, only because he was scared. Flynn felt bad for the kid. Riley was probably the only person he would admit flat out that he cared about. They all knew he cared about Sharon and maybe even the rest of them, but Riley was his sister.

"No one is going to hurt anyone," Sharon promised him, reaching out to him and catching his hand.

"Sharon won't let anything happen to your sister or you, Rusty. Neither will we," Flynn told him, resting a hand on his should as Sharon continued to gently rock Riley. "It's going to be okay," he promised all of them, meeting Sharon's eyes over the top of Riley's head.

It took a lot to calm Riley enough to get her to go back to sleep, but there was no way that she was going to school and Sharon wasn't going to make Rusty either. It was nearly ten o'clock by the time she was able to pry herself away from Riley's side, her place taken by Rusty.

Sharon knew she had to remove herself from the case, there was no way for her to be impartial when he daughter, be it foster or not, was a suspect and she was almost as certain that the man Riley was so afraid of was responsible for Layla's death. She knew this was one that she had to stay away from.

Flynn kept her updated, letting her know that they had informed the parents. Yes, parents, not foster parents. Apparently Layla was actually Wesley and Amanda Kilburn's biological daughter. They had three other foster children, thirteen, seven, and five, but Layla was the only biological child they had. Amanda was a nurse, working a twelve hour shift starting at seven AM and Wesley usually got off at five, but on Wednesdays he got off at seven like his wife. It was his one late night and the neighbor checked on the kids.

They seemed heartbroken and shocked enough, but he couldn't get himself to trust a word they said. Riley had a reason to be afraid of this man, she firmly believed that Wesley was the one that killed Layla.

Flynn picked up some food on the way back to Sharon's apartment. She was sitting at her table with her head in her hands, her hair covering her face, guarding her features. Tears were so close to falling that she felt weak.

He went to her and kissed the top of her head, letting his lips linger.

"How's our girl?" he asked her softly as she sighed.

"Devastated. Terrified. How do you think she is?" Sharon replied a little more bitterly than she wanted it to come out. She sighed as she pushed her hair out of her face and stood up. "I'm sorry. I'm just a little-"

"You just a little bit of a mother bear?" Andy offered as he set down the bags of food. "We have video footage of Riley entering the practice room last night so she's no longer a suspect. You can come back to this case."

It was tempting, but she still shook her head. "Right now, Riley needs me a whole lot more than you all. You all are good at what you do. I have faith in you."

Andy nodded but he looked a bit nervous still. "We need to question Riley about what happened in that house, Sharon."

Sharon sighed and looked out the window. She knew he was right, but still.

"I don't know if she can do this, Andy. I don't know if I can ask her to." She looked at him, standing there, completely open to her. Finally she moved to him, allowing him to wrap her in his embrace and hold her. "She does not deserve this."

"They never do," Andy replied simply.

Rusty closed the door behind him to Riley's room and saw Flynn holding Sharon. He didn't find it awkward, not like he thought he would. He actually like them together. They respected the twins enough to keep their romance mostly hidden from them. Not that it was a secret from them, but they never really displayed their affection in front of the twins.

Even this hug was minimal to what Rusty was used to from his mother and her boyfriends.

"Riley wants you," Rusty announced trying not to seem uncomfortable.

Sharon nearly jumped away from Flynn and wiped her cheeks before turning around to face Rusty. She forced a smile and held her head up high as she moved to through the apartment to Riley's room.

The girl was walking around her room, fully dressed in her jeans and a fitted blue t-shirt and canvas shoes. She grabbed her coat out of her closet and pulled it on. "I need to leave, I need fresh air."

Sharon nodded. "Okay, where do you want to go?"

Riley went frigid. "Where do people go?"

It was an innocent enough question but it still broke her heart.

"I'll get my coat and car keys. We'll go somewhere," Sharon promised watching the girl's eyes get watery again, but the determination on her features wouldn't allow them to fall.

"Just you and me. I don't want Rusty or Flynn. I have to talk to just you," Riley said decisively.

Sharon knew where this was going, at least she thought she did.

They left less than five minutes later. Andy didn't ask where they were going, but agreed to stay with Rusty until they got back. Rusty also didn't seem bothered by Riley going off without him and took a seat on the couch.

Flynn looked at him and moved into the kitchen where the large bags of food still sat. "You hungry?"

Rusty turned around. "Depends. Is there beef lomein in there?"

Flynn patted one of the food containers. "Sharon said it was your favorite."

It always surprised him how often Sharon actually heard what he said. He lived with his mother for most of his life, but she probably didn't even know he hated diet sodas or that he absolutely loved peanut butter. Sharon knew. She knew without even being told sometimes.

Rusty accepted the whole box of lomein and the chopsticks and let Flynn crash down in the couch next to them. They both were very aware that Sharon was very against eating directly out of take out containers and eating anything with rice on the couch, but she wasn't there right then and neither were going to say anything.

"Are you mad that Riley wanted you to stay here?" Flynn probed gently, not taking his eyes off of the odd show Rusty seemed to be watching.

Rusty thought about this. "Not really. Me and Riley get that life sucks, ya know? But sharing how bad life's been for one of us will only hurt the other more. What happened to her while she was in that house is something she doesn't want to share with me, just like we don't share stories of being whores or what happened at Brenda's house."

Flynn found this very interesting. In a way it was like they were self sacrificing for each other, but before he could comment Rusty continued. "But if Riley or Sharon or anyone knew what I did, they wouldn't... they couldn't look at me anymore."

"And you don't think Riley feels the same way?"

Whether she did or not, Rusty didn't want to think about it. "She wants to tell Sharon."

"I don't think she wants to tell Sharon anything. I think she wants to do right by that little girl and if that means telling a story that she doesn't want to tell, she's brave enough to do it. Be proud of her." Flynn took a large bite of sweet and sour chicken.

Rusty didn't dignify that with a response, especially because he knew he was right.

There was a place that Sharon used to go to think when she first moved to LA, when the kids were young and Jack had started drinking again. It was on the beach but it was further out than most people bother to venture. She discovered it after a particularly horrible day and she decided to take a walk while the kids were in pre-school and school. She just kept walking until she found this beautiful spot.

Riley watched as Sharon let the professional side of her falter and instead become the type of person that she was at home. She was in her jeans and light coat, swaying lightly to the sound of the waves rolling off the shore.

The sound of the waves were so loud and it was so weird to be walking alone on a beach in LA. Riley stopped and looked out at the waves.

"I was pretty used to the whole idea of getting smacked around," Riley halfway called out Sharon who was a few steps in front of her.

Sharon turned to give the girl her full attention, watching as Riley's long dirty blonde hair blew with ocean wind. Her eyes were piercing blue, bluer than the sky or the ocean as she looked at Sharon.

"I can take that. I handle being pushed around," she continued, softer now as Sharon pushed a piece of her own hair behind her ear and let the girl move closer. "But those little kids. They were so scared. He'd raise his hand to them and they would cry like I used to. They didn't know better. I couldn't stand it, so I stepped up."

She bit her lip. "I stood up and I got in front of Layla one day after she woke him up by accident. I stood in front of her while he screamed at her and then when he reached for her I pushed him back. He looked at me. He didn't say anything at first, just looked at me. I could feel him staring at me, studying me. He said that I wasn't a kid. I didn't get punished like a kid. I got punished like a lady.

"So he grabbed me by the arm and pulled me into the back room. I had seen that look in men's eyes before. He pulled off my clothes and said that if I made him happy he wouldn't make it hurt so bad. He knew I was a whore. The social worker told him..."

Riley's eyes fell as she kicked at the sand. "He told me that once a whore always a whore. He would pick fights with the kids just so I'd stand up for them and then he'd take me into the back bedroom. I was just a whore, and I was always going to be a whore."

Sharon stepped forward and put her hands on Riley's shoulders. "Riley, you didn't deserve that. What he did was wrong-"

"But what I did was wrong too," she said tearfully.

Sharon shushed the girl and pulled her into her arms. "You did what you had to do. No one can judge you for something they never experience."

"That doesn't stop them from doing it anyway. No one will believe a whore was raped by her foster father. Even if there are cigarette burns down her back from it. I was a whore. I have no creditability." Riley clung onto Sharon as she was rocked back and forth.

"Riley, you are a kid, as much as you think you're all grown up," Sharon told her.

"Twenty-one times." Sharon pulled back and looked at Riley with a confused look. But then Riley turned around and pulled at the back of her shirt. "Twenty-one times. Every time he had sex with me he would smoke a cigarette and well..."

Twenty-one small circular burns on Riley's back. Twenty-one reminders of what Wesley Kilburn did to her. When the bruises went away and the pain stopped, she would still have to feel the smooth scar tissue over her back.

Sharon was furious as she stared at the burns.

"But I don't care, what he's done to me," Riley said as she turned back around to face her foster mother. "But Layla didn't deserve what he did to her."

Sharon didn't want to let go as Riley went back into her arms. "Riley, if I need you to file charges against Wesley Kilburn..."

"Then I'd do it for Layla."

There was no way to protect Riley from everything she was about to go through. Sharon couldn't have prepared her for what was to come, mostly because the victim side of law enforcement was not a side she was extremely familiar with. She knew how to work with victims as a detective or as a law enforcement agent, but all she wanted to do was hold Riley.

Sharon knew all too well that sometimes the victims of crimes were put through a lot once they stepped forward and spoke about what happened to them. Riley was brave, she was strong, but some people prey on weaknesses and Riley's age and size made her a target already.

Provenza stared at the man who held his wife as she cried. The little girl had strong similarities to her mother; dark curls, dark skin, it was very obvious she was Italian or Greek. Beautiful either way.

Wesley Kilburn's hair was dark hair by eyes that were more grey. His skin was fair and he held himself with a certain pompous heir that a father who lost his daughter should never hold. Provenza very frankly hated him.

Sanchez had sat with the other children of the home for over an hour and all of them seemed too afraid to say much of anything. The thirteen year old was extremely snippy about why they were hear and the moment the door opened all three kids would flinch. The only thing they really had to say about Layla was that she was spirited. Not that they used that word. They were more or less saying Layla was the problem child. She challenged everything.

Sharon appeared behind him as Flynn came in behind her. The twins were probably either in Sharon's office or in their cubicle and Mother Bear was pretty much radiating heat from her anger.

"I need you to ask about Riley. To both the kids and parents," Sharon told Provenza over his shoulder.

He looked at her. "I thought you were taking yourself off this?"

She never took her eyes off the screen as she shrugged. "Then I'm not here."

Provenza shot a look at Flynn who was standing extremely close to the captain and he rolled his eyes. They thought they were so smooth, but it was obvious there was something going on between those two. Anytime he would say something about it to Flynn he would reflect the question to something about the twins or that he respects what the captain is trying to do. Either way, some of the looks Flynn gave the captain were not all that respectful.

But this time he didn't say anything, in fact he decided to let the captain do her usual coaching from the booth while Provenza joined Toa in asking the questions.

He walked through the door and took a seat next to Toa without so much as introducing his presence. "Riley Beck, she was in your custody at one time, correct?" Provenza asked as his usual grumpy self.

Toa didn't say anything, just watched as Amanda Kilburn looked confused by this question while Wesley looked irritated.

"Yes, Riley was one of the quietest foster kids we've had," Amanda said not hiding her confusion. "I never had many problems with her, but Wesley-"

"She could be challenging. She caused problems with the other kids and she didn't like doing her part of the chores," Wesley cut in making Sharon snort in disgust. "She used foul language and was aggressive at times. Typical foster kid with a rough history, couldn't tell the truth if she tried."

Sharon gritted her teeth as Buzz rolled his eyes. They all knew better, and they recognized a man trying to point the finger at someone else.

"She was jealous of Layla," he went on. "Pick fights with her and push her around. I didn't let her get away with it, though."

Amanda looked at her husband. "I knew you had some problems with Riley, but I didn't realize how bad..."

"Oh God," Flynn muttered rolling his eyes as Wesley put and arm around his wife.

"I just didn't want to bother you with it all."

"Can I punch him?" Flynn grumbled making Sharon smile.

Provenza leaned forward and looked at Wesley. "Have you seen Riley Beck since she was removed from your custody?"

Wesley Kilburn's eyes narrowed. "I know she's going to some uppity private school."

Everyone listening leaned closer to the screen. "And how would he know that?" Sharon asked softly, her hands now planted firmly on the table waiting for her answer.

"I think I saw her name on some flyer or something," he grumbled. "Something about a recital."

Several people turned to Sharon who shrugged. She had heard nothing about a flyer and normally the school asked for a sign release to allow a minor's name on anything that would leave the school, which she did not sign. Was it possible that something slipped through the cracks? Sure, but she didn't see it likely.

"What did Layla do on her Wednesdays after school?" Provenza kept going.

"Usually she spent several hours at the library until she decided to come home," Amanda answered this time.

"Last night I got off a little early and Layla still wasn't back. I decided I'd surprise her and pick her up from the library but she wasn't there. I spent the next several hours looking for her. I even called Amanda to come home early," Wesley was working himself up for tears again and it was really beginning to annoy Provenza.

"He didn't get in until nearly midnight. We decided we'd call the police in the morning. Sometimes Layla worked herself up and she'd run off for a while, we just thought it was one of those times," Amanda finished for them.

"Do you know where she goes? Most kids have a certain spot," Toa offered , noticing that gaps in their story. "My son goes to the park near our old house."

"I don't know where Layla would go, she just always came home," Amanda replied, tears rolling down her cheeks again. "She just always came home."

Sharon had seen enough. She spun around and walked out the door. Riley would know if what they were saying was true.

Both Rusty and Riley were sitting in Sharon's office with Phantom. She could tell by the odd silence that she must have interrupted an important conversation. The large German Shepherd stood up and stretched, moving over to Sharon and seeming completely exhausted by the two teenagers that she was stuck in a room with.

"Riley, where did Layla go when she ran away?" Sharon asked quickly and to the point.

"Uhh," she stood up and rubbed the back of her neck. "It's a place near the shore. A foster kid how to have showed it to her because it's a pretty rough area."

"Can you show me? On a map?" Sharon moved aside and let Riley step into the murder room.

The map was already laid out on Flynn's desk and she pointed to an area a little too close to where they found Layla's body. "It's somewhere in there. There's like a boxcar that she'd sit on."

Sharon nodded as Riley looked back up at her. "Are we going home soon?"

Guilt hit Sharon as she noticed Riley looked extremely tired. She had a long day and it wouldn't surprise her if Riley didn't sleep tonight. It was going to be way too long of a night and Sharon knew that the poor thing probably did just want to get back to her safe place.

"We'll leave as soon as I talk to Lieutenant Provenza, alright?"

Riley nodded and rested her head against Sharon's shoulder.

"You did this!" The sound of shouting made both of them jump as Phantom's growl rumbled.

Wesley Kilburn was storming at Riley, his fists clench, his teeth gritted. Flynn moved in front of him. "You need to take your wife home."

"You did this, you-you street whore!" he snapped at her, pushing past Flynn as Sharon held Riley behind her and Phantom continued to growl. "You killed my little girl! You killed her!"

Riley was stunned to silence, but it didn't last long as Sanchez grabbed Wesley's arm and pulled him back. "Sir, take your wife home!" This time it wasn't a suggestion.

"You killed her!" he shouted again. "You killed my Layla! You monster!"

Riley pushed pasted Sharon, despite Sharon trying to pull her back. "No!" she snapped, her voice low and dangerous. "You're the monster."

Wesley leaned past Sanchez and spit in Riley's face. Sanchez tossed the man backward with a little extra force as Provenza pulled out a handkerchief and offered it to Riley.

"Bastard," she muttered wiping her face.

Sharon shook her head at the man still glaring at them over his shoulder as Riley refused to cry. Sometimes she wished she wasn't a police officer. Sometime she wished she could just let whatever happened to people like Wesley Kilburn happen.

But that night, she took the twins home and no one went to their own beds. Instead the three of them stayed together in the family room. Riley tucked against Sharon on the couch and Rusty on the floor in front of them.

Riley wept silent tears against Sharon's robe and Rusty put on movie after movie hoping his sister would fall asleep to some of the classics they watched as children. It took a while but she did eventually sleep, it was Sharon that could convince herself to close her eyes. Rusty's trial hadn't even began, Riley hadn't even told anyone else what happened to her at that house, but they already deserved a break. These kids deserved a break.

And they would take one. A real Christmas break. Because the kids definitely deserved it. And maybe Sharon deserved it a little too.


	11. Kilburn

Sharon's phone buzzed against the wooden coffee table, startling her awake. For a moment she was surprised to find Riley still against her and Rusty on the floor as she carefully reached over and grabbed it.

It was Andy.

"Yes?" she whispered as Riley's hand grabbed onto Sharon's robe.

"Sorry, Shar, this call is business, not pleasure." She figured as much but didn't say anything since both kids were still sleeping. "This morning we got a warrant to search the Kilburn residence and we're heading over there now."

Sharon yawned and stroked Riley's long hair away from both of their faces. "That's great."

"I thought you'd want to know, in case you wanted to come along." He almost sounded like he was extending an invitation, maybe he even wanted her to come along, but she couldn't this time.

"I'm going to stay with Rusty and Riley today. I think I'll be of more use here than there," Sharon replied sounding a little sad. "Call me later, though. Let me know what's going on."

There was almost the sound of Andy's fond smile as he breathed into the phone. "Tell that firecracker that we're gunna put this guy away and she'll never have to worry about him again."

Sharon smiled sadly and rested her cheek against Riley's forehead. "I'm going to let the kids sleep a little longer. Keep me posted." She ended the call and slid the phone back onto the coffee table.

"Sharon letting us sleep past eight?" Rusty yawned, but didn't get up or even open his eyes. "Are you sick? Is the sky falling?"

Sharon smirked and sunk deeper into the couch. "Oh hush, Steward Little."

"It's Chicken Little," Riley muttered against her robe.

"You too," Sharon scolded teasingly allowing her eyes to shut.

About an hour later, there was a knock on the door. Riley was still sleeping on the couch, but Rusty had moved to his room and Sharon was already ready for the day. She looked through the peep hole and smiled to see Andy holding a bad of donuts.

She pulled the door open and grinned at him. "Good morning," she said cheekily, going up on her toes to kiss his lips as he walked in. When he didn't seem as enthused as she was, she began to worry.

"Wesley Kilburn has agreed to plead guilty on all accounts," Andy said cautiously, making Sharon's stomach drop. She knew that tone. It was not one that meant celebration. "If he can have five minutes to talk to Riley."

Sharon just stared at Andy. "He thinks we're going to let him talk to the little girl he raped he's sadly mistaken."

He expected this. He knew full and well that Sharon was going to stand firm in her "hell no" answer. No one wanted this, no one wanted to send Riley into the same room at this man and let them talk.

"Sharon." Andy reached out to her and touched her arm, but she pulled away from him. Mother bear. Definitely always a mother bear when it came to her kids, even with Andy Flynn. If anyone threatened to.

"Andy, I'm not asking her to do it." Sharon's voice was firm and so was her gaze. He didn't see her face when she was told her about what Wesley Kilburn used to do to her. From the moment Sharon met Riley, she could see that she was holding back the stories of whatever happened in that house. Now that Sharon knew what Wesley Kilburn was capable of, she would never let Riley near him again.

"How long will he go to prison?"

The small voice behind them made both Sharon and Andy jump. Riley was still lying on the couch with her arm tucked under her head, staring at the wall blankly. She showed absolutely no emotion on her face, there was no real indication that she had spoke at all, but Andy decided to answer.

"Twenty years," he told her.

She bit her lip. Twenty years? That was all? She would be thirty-six when he got out. But this wasn't just for her. This was for Layla. He killed his own daughter and he'd be sure to go to jail for it if he could talk to Riley.

"Okay," she said shakily, sitting up on the couch and pushing her hair behind her ear. "I'll talk to him."

Sharon opened her mouth to tell her she didn't have to, but Riley already knew that. She wasn't doing it for them, she was doing it for Layla. Still, Sharon wanted to protect her all too much.

"I'm going to take a shower, and get ready..." Riley added, standing up. She looked at Sharon as though trying to read her thoughts. Sharon remained stoic. There was nothing she could say and she was unsure if she wanted to compliment Riley's bravery or forbid her from going.

Riley just wanted to know that Sharon would still be there after it all was said and done.

Finally, she headed into the bathroom, leaving Sharon and Andy alone. She looked at up at him and struggled with words. There was anger and fear barely registering in the corner of her eyes as she looked at him.

"Maybe it'll be for the best," Andy offered. He never knew what to say in these moments, and maybe it was wrong of him to have said that. Sharon just stared at him for a moment longer before stepping into his arms and letting them wrap around her.

Riley stood in the fluffy white towel staring into the closet of clothes Sharon had bought for her. They were are so nice. Nothing very revealing, some more formal than others, but what do you wear to see the man that victimized you and killed someone you cared about?

She just kept staring at the options in her closet. Nothing felt right, no matter what she chose to wear she would feel completely naked standing in front of him again. A turtle neck and a belt was tempting, just to through the blunt symbolism in his face. Still, part of her wanted to show how strong she wanted to be.

Finally, she pulled out a pair of skinny jeans and a pastel button up. Immediately she judged herself for how long it took her just to figure out what to wear when she was put face to face with her attacker. It wasn't enough that she had to see him again, anything she chose to wear didn't matter, he'd see right through it.

As she closed her closet door she was face-to-face with her reflection. Her big blue eyes looked fearful and her normally shiny dirty blonde hair seemed dulled. She looked weak, maybe even sick with her skin washed out of color and palms sweating.

"Sharon said you didn't have to go. She doesn't want you to do it," Rusty said standing in the doorway to her room.

"I'm not doing it for her," Riley snapped not even looking at him. "You wouldn't know much about doing things for other people."

Rusty took the blow of her words with a bewildered look. "What is that suppose to mean?"

"Exactly what I said," Riley mumbled back, pretending to be searching her drawer for something, but really she couldn't look at him. She didn't want to start crying again.

Rusty raised his hand in surrender. "Okay, whatever. You're not the one that needs a babysitter all the time because you're a material witness in a murder trial."

_No. I'm just going to have to give a criminal five minutes of my time. _Riley was taking a note from her brother's book and she knew it, but she was too upset to care. All too often, Rusty verbally attacked her when he was scared and agree, so she refused to let herself feel too guilty when he spun around and slammed the door behind him.

Sharon looked at Andy at the sound of a slamming door. There was a lot of pressure on two very young kids. The kind of pressure that many adults wouldn't be able to handle, much less two teenagers that had been through unstable homes all their life and the closest thing they've had to normal home was leaving with the Sharon, Captain of Major Crimes.

How many times has these kids lives been torn apart and how many times will it happen again?

Riley appeared in the hallway, her hair braided back and her eyes sad. Sharon was really ready to pull the girl into her arms and protect her from Wesley Kilburn, but this was something the girl had to do on her own.

"Let's go," she said firmly but her voice was soft.

Rusty was already by the door, arms crossed and shoulders squared. He was protective of his little sister. The fact that he knew he was very far out of the loop and was being kept in the dark about something and he wanted to know why and what.

But just like Rusty would never burden his sister with the knowledge of what happened to him, Riley refused even if because she was afraid of Rusty trying to kill him..

The moment they walked into the station, Riley resisted the urge to glare at everyone who kept giving her that sympathetic look. She wasn't someone who liked to be pitied and to see people who she respected and wanted their respect pitying her, she felt sick to her stomach.

Wesley Kilburn was being walked down the hall by Sanchez and Sykes and he stopped when he saw her. Her blue eyes darkened as her smiled at her. "Glad you could come, baby."

Sanchez gave the man a firm shove in the direction of the interview room. Sharon gripped Riley's shoulders.

"Lieutenant Flynn and I will be watching the entire time, if you need anything-"

Riley looked up at Sharon, she was shaking. "You won't be in the room?"

"Provenza will be," Sharon promised. "If you want me or Lieutenant Flynn or me in there, one of us could go too."

Riley just looked up at Sharon and immediately Sharon knew that Riley didn't want to be separated from the one person she truly trusted at this time. All Sharon did was nod.

Flynn put his hand on Sharon's arm. It wasn't enough to seem suspiciously intimate, but it was comforting. Rusty just looked at his sister and she gave him the strongest look she could muster up. "And you." There was a flicker of a smile as she gave him a friendly sucker punch to the shoulder. "Don't worry about me. I can handle myself, plus I've got back up."

Maybe that was true, but it didn't make any of them stop worrying. Riley looked up at Sharon again, and this time Sharon didn't wait for the girl to move to her, she pulled Riley into her arms and held her like she was going to disappear. Riley clung right back. Her head resting on Sharon's shoulder as her hands held tight to her. She was the only one who knew about what Wesley did to her, the full extent of it.

Maybe he told the rest of them, or hinted at it, or planned to make it obvious in these five minutes. She was just going to have to suck it up.

But those moments that Sharon held onto her, she felt safe. Sharon gave her a safe home and for that Riley would be eternally grateful. But Sharon gave her something more too. She gave her more than new clothes, a warm bed, and a safe home. Sharon gave her and her brother a family by becoming their mother.

"I'll be okay, Sharon," Riley promised sounding a little like she was reassuring herself as well.

Sharon nodded as she pulled away, looking the girl in the eye. Provenza put his hand on Riley's shoulder and guided her toward the door with Sharon right behind her, leaving Andy and Rusty alone in the hallway.

Provenza gave the girl a look after glancing over her head at the ever stoic captian. "I'm sure the Captain's already told ya this, but you don't have to go in there."

Riley just looked him in the eye. "Yes. I do."

He nodded. "If you want out, just say so. No one will be mad," he told her, also not liking the situation she was about to put herself in.

Her head barely moved as a sign she heard him as she stared at the door. Of course this was terrifying. Her heart beating in her chest and palms sweating as she waited for the moment Provenza pushed that door open.

As soon as that door knob turned, she felt like running. Turning around and heading straight for the car and not looking back. But she was this far. Layla needed her to do this. She needed to do this for herself.

Still, she took a deep breath before stepping into the room. Provenza was right behind her the entire time and so was Sharon. She was safe with them.

Wesley Kilburn grinned at her as he sat there with his hands cuffed. There was no lawyer beside him, opting out of an attorney for his moment with his favorite victim. Somehow she was even sexier when he was handcuffed.

Sharon took her phone out of her pocket and laid it on the table. "Five minutes has started," she told him calmly, not revealing the tiniest bit of the concerned mother she was in the hallway, but Kilburn wouldn't have noticed anyway. His eyes were glued on the girl sitting between the two officers.

"Miss me?"

"No."

She was calm. Too calm. At least she appeared to be to him. She didn't look at him, but she was sitting tall and her voice was firm.

Still, he felt the need to poke. All he wanted to do was get at her. "Not even a little. Not every man would treat a whore as well as I did."

This time her eyes flickered to him, but only for a moment, finding their spot on the wall behind his head again. He grinned. There was something. The beginning of a reaction. "Don't pretend you didn't like it when I touched you."

Slowly, her eyes moved from the wall and into his again. There was no emotion behind them as they bore into his soul. It was like she was just an empty vessel, nothing more for him to take. "Don't pretend you did anything for me."

There was so much bite and hate in her voice that both Provenza and Sharon glanced at her. It was like this wasn't their Riley at all. This person sitting next to them was empty and angry, not shy and unsure.

Kilburn's laugh boomed through the room. "You think you're so tough now? Sweet little Riley. Did I finally piss her off?" His face cracked into the slightest grin. "You're not so tough. You cried the entire time. No one wants a whore that cries!"

Sharon caught the girl's hand under the table, sensing her tough shell cracking.

"You were such a bad example for Layla. Made her think that she could save someone. What did she learn? That bravery is very similar to stupidity." Kilburn leaned closer to riley over the table. "Bravery only gets you hurt."

"So that's why you killed her. She wanted to put a stop to what you were doing," Riley accused, her voice shaking with anger and frustration. "She was a little girl!"

"She was fine before you had to be a martyr. Little Miss Riley, from Whore to Hero. Could write a book about ya."

Provenza snarled at the man. "I suggest you start talking to her with some respect before you piss me off."

Kilburn ignore him. His eyes never leaving Riley's face. "You look good."

She snorted at him, but he kept on. "Always been pretty. Never really thought of myself as a guy to go for blondes, but hey. You were different."

Sharon kept her hand locked around Riley's wrist as she saw the tears start swimming in her eyes. "Did you tell them how many times you came for me? How many times I made you beg? Every time we had together is marked on your back. Have you showed them? Once a whore always a whore."

Provenza slammed his hands down on the table and got in the man's face. "She's sixteen!"

Kilburn only grinned at that fact. "The only thing that I wish I would have done differently, the only thing, is that I wish I would have killed you."

Riley refused to react to his words, but he kept on. "I would have held you down, with my hands around your neck and-"

The alarm on Sharon's phone went off and they all exhaled a sigh of relief except for Kilburn. "Times up," Sharon said coolly, nearly pulling Riley to her feet.

But Riley stopped. She looked at Kilburn, she stared him straight in the eyes. "You killed your own daughter. She was sweet and smart and brave and you killed her because of me. I will have to live with that, but you're going to spend the next twenty years being someone else's whore and I hope to God ever single last person in this world knows-" Her lips quirked into a smile and eyes narrowed with hate- "the _little_ problem you have with your manhood."

If there was one way to piss off a rapist, it was to insult manhood. "Go to hell," he snapped at her.

"Hopefully we're not seated at the same table," Riley replied coolly.

No one knew where that side of Riley came from, but the moment she reached the hallway, she was headed for the elevator. Sharon barely had time to register that she was missing before seeing the girl tapping the down arrow repeatedly as the DDA walked into the interview room to make the deal with Kilburn's lawyer in tow looking particularly grey.

Obviously it was taking too long, so she opted for the stairs. Sharon hated running in heels and a skirt, but it was the only way she was going to catch up with the girl who was seemingly trying to make a break for it.

Riley was nearly running down the steps, her hand barely holding onto the banister as she rushed down the steps.

"Riley!" Sharon called looking over the side of the steps to see her foster daughter still in full speed. Obviously the girl wasn't stopping.

Her hands hit the doors the opened out to the parking garage and Riley's feet came to a halt as she sucked the cool air into her lungs. She moved against the wall and slid down it until her butt hit the concrete. Her face was buried in her hands as tears rolled off her face.

Sharon burst through the same door in panic, afraid that she had lost sight of the girl and she was gone. For a moment she just stood there, looking out into the dimly lit parking garage that let out onto the sunny street, she hurt a sniff.

The girl curled into herself, crying against the wall, broke Sharon's heart. Slowly, she moved toward her, kneeling down in front of her and placing on her hands on both of her shoulders.

"I don't know why I'm crying," Riley said pathetically.

Sharon let out sort of laugh. "I can think of about fifteen reasons you could be crying, the same fifteen that makes me want to cry for you."

"I'm not strong. I'm not brave," Riley cried. She shook her head. "I'll always be a whore."

"No," Sharon said firmly. "Riley, listen to me. Look at me and listen." Glassy blue eyes slowly peeked past wild strands of hair and Sharon cupped the damp face. "You the strongest, bravest young women I've ever met. The past is the past, honey. You can make your future whatever you want it to be. Wesley Kilburn is going to jail, _thanks to you_ and I'm going to take you home where no one will ever hurt you again. Do you understand me?"

There was a weak nod from the girl before Sharon pressed her lips against her forehead. God help the person that ever tried to hurt her kids.


	12. Promises

_**So I probably should have split this into two chapters, but I figured you all wouldn't mind an extra long chapter. **_

Riley was trembling. The closing song was hers and she was about to perform in front of a couple hundred people in mere minutes. She had already played piano in front of these people, she had already sang with the choir, but now she was about to go on stage alone. Mr. Arnold had told her over and over that she deserved this solo, but he couldn't understand why it was so terrifying to her.

For as long as she could remember, she had never really been alone in anything, and the fact that she was going to be very alone on that stage flaunting a vulnerability like a target was utterly terrifying. So terrifying in fact she was sick to her stomach.

"She's next, right? Then we can leave?" Rusty asked, not hiding the fact he was not enjoying sitting with the Provenza, Flynn, and Sharon with several classmates around. Not that he wanted to sit with them either, he really just didn't want to be there.

Provenza leaned past Flynn that was on the other side of Sharon. "How old are you?" he grumbled, annoyed. Probably because he loved Riley as much as everyone else, but a recital was definitely not his cup of tea. Hell, he didn't even like tea. It was not his cup of coffee. Actually it was like instant coffee to him.

"How old are _you_?" Rusty fired back with just as much annoyance.

"Boys," Sharon scolded lightly, without taking her eyes off the stage where Riley would arrive soon. "One more song then you both can go home."

"I thought we were eating before we went home," Rusty commented slumping down in his seat.

Flynn gave Sharon a surprised look. "They haven't eaten yet?"

"No-" Sharon began but was cut off.

"Riley would have thrown up," Rusty explains earning an understand "Ah" from the rest of the squad. "She's probably ready to throw up now. Hell, she may be throwing up."

Sharon glanced at him then looked back at the stage. She could see Mr. Arnold's back turned talking to someone and she couldn't help but wonder if it had to do with Riley.

She clutched the pamphlet a little tighter, feeling anxious for the girl and hoping she was alright. Of course Riley's nerves were obvious at home, she was shaking before she even left the house. Even through her parts with the rest of the choir or musicians, Sharon could see the nervous all over her face. But now she was about to go on alone.

Suddenly there was a person leaning over her shoulder. Sharon looked up to see one of the other choir students looking concerned. "Are you Sharon Raydor?"

Almost immediately, Sharon's heart stopped. "Yes?"

"Mr. Arnold asked if I would bring you backstage," she explained, motioning for Sharon to follow her. She sent a look past Rusty to Andy and hoped he understood.

Most of the students had cleared out from back stage and were sitting with their parents. There were a few stragglers and a few students who did lights and worked with the tech stuff that remained backstage. And Riley.

She looked like a doll in her emerald dress that had a very modest neckline and short sleeves. Her hair was curled and pulled away from her face and her makeup was just enough to light up her natural features.

Her feet rolled from toe to heel as she nodded at whatever Mr. Arnold was saying as her arms held each other in front of body.

Sharon approached them, giving the director a appreciative nod. "Ah, Sharon, it's good to see you."

"You seem well," she replied with a smile, but she made it obvious she really wanted to get to the point.

Mr. Arnold returned the smile. "I'll let you two talk for a moment."

It was almost the moment they left, Riley looked at Sharon desperately. "I can't do this. All those other kids were amazing. I'm not... I'm not like them..."

Sharon gave her foster daughter a firm look as she placed her hands on the girls small shoulders. "Just because you're different doesn't mean you're not amazing."

The girl gave Sharon a frustrated look. "That was such a mom thing to say."

A small chuckle past though Sharon's lips as she pulled Riley against her. "Sweetie, I know you're nervous, but I think you're going to do wonderful."

"And if I don't and I embarrass myself in front of everyone?"

"Then we'll have ice cream for dinner and depending on how badly you do we may see what kind of private boarding schools are on the east coast."

Sharon could feel Riley relax as she started laughing. "Boarding school? Can't you just transfer to the NYPD? I don't want to go by myself."

And just like that, Riley shared the real problem she was having going on stage with Sharon as well as how important Sharon was in her life. Riley let her fall on Sharon's shoulder as they continued holding on to one another.

"I'll stay backstage while you go on. The moment you're done, I'm right here. Okay?" Sharon promised as he caught Mr. Arnold's eye over Riley's shoulder and gave him a nod to proceed.

"And if I completely suck we're moving the east coast?" Riley asked with a smile.

"Sure. Why not. I like New York."

The girl broke the embrace and looked at Sharon for a long time that made her wonder what on earth was going on inside that pretty little head. "I don't know how to thank you," Riley said softly.

"Thank me?"

The girl nodded. "If you didn't take in Rusty and me we'd probably end up just like our mother. You're the person who made sure we got a chance."

Riley didn't wait for a response, but watched as Mr. Arnold took the stage. She stood taller now. Far from unafraid, but definitely less afraid. For a moment Riley Beck looked a lot like a little girl who had also stood on this stage before.

Mr. Arnold appeared back on the stage, walking to the center for the microphone. He smiled out into the audience. "Most of you know that I hand pick the soloist for each recital. A lot of factors play a part in who I choose to do each solo and where each musician or vocalist will be placed throughout the night's performance. So when I chose a Sophomore, a student that was completely new to our school and our ways of doing things, it was a big controversy. Each student chooses their own performance piece and is told to make it their own, tell their own story through their piece, and as always they will tell you a bit about their piece before it is perform. Without further a due I would like to introduce Miss Riley Beck."

Rusty and the two lieutenants cheered for the girl who cautiously walked out from backstage and offered her music teacher a nervous smile.

She looked out into the crowd and flexed her hands. There was a lot of people out there...Her heart was racing as she thanked Mr. Arnold and moved to the microphone.

"I would like to thank you all for coming out tonight," Riley said awkwardly, following the instructions Mr. Arnold gave her earlier in the week when introducing her piece. "My piece is my interpretation of a song called _Everything is Beautiful_ by Anne Marie Boskovich."

She swallowed hard and looked out, absently searching for the familiar faces of the people she loved out in the stands. As she searched she kept talking. "I was really terrified when Mr. Arnold gave me this honor of being the closing soloist, and I'm especially terrified that I'm standing here right now in front of a lot of people I don't know." The weak laugh she let out was met with a friendly chuckle from the crowd, as though encouraging her. "I've never performed in front of anyone before, but I really feel connected to this song in a way that I want to share."

Finally, her eyes fell on Rusty, grinning at her like he always did that made her smile right back. She looked at him for a moment longer before thinking about how Sharon was standing just behind the curtain ready to embrace her the moment she got off stage. Provenza and Andy were watching her with these expectant, proud eyes that made her feel protected.

"This song is for the family that I never thought I would have," Riley said with finality, smiling up at the people she cared about as well as over to Sharon who was barely visible next to curtain.

Taking a deep breath, she walked over to the grand piano and sat down on the bench. She barely ran her fingers over the keys, feeling them for a moment before actually pressing them. Her eyes were closed as she inhaled and with her exhale let her fingers push the keys.

It was soft, but powerful. Sad, but hopeful. The whole room was memorized by the way a girl that showed so little confidence in front of the microphone a moment before had forgotten her surroundings and was alone in her own world with the piano.

Rusty was amazed. He had never seen his sister so peacefully detached. It almost gave him chills and he wasn't even sure why. It was like watching a whole other person have a mystical out of body moment that was connecting with an instrument in a way that brought everyone within earshot into the magical realm that she was creating.

Provenza was in awe. The quiet little bird that he had grown to love held a tune that was unlike anything he had ever thought possible. He wasn't a music person, he wasn't an art person, but he knew talent when he heard it.

Andy just smirked. In a way he had gotten used to expect the unexpected from Riley. There was something magical about her and the way the piano's tune hummed a melody that could sound so simple and enchanting seemed perfectly accurate. The girl had a girl.

Sharon was just beaming, even though the tune that was being played held a particularly sad tone it was magic to Sharon's ears. Both her older children had been on this stage before and the fact that all the emotions rushing through her body felt so familiar once again reminded Sharon that Rusty and Riley were not just her foster children, but her children.

There was a moment that it felt like everyone was holding their breath as she opened her mouth to sing, almost waiting for her jazzy-bluesy voice to break their hearts.

_"_ _I would not be here tonight /If I had to choose /It's always the bigger things in life /That seem to choose you."_

For the people that knew her, they could almost see the story that she was singing about. The things Riley had gone through, the times she had been hurt. __

"You can say what you want /Believe what you will believe, yeah /But I'll take what I want /And see what I need to see.

"When I'm buried in the questions /I can't find the answers /I close my eyes and listen /Till I remember /Everything was beautiful, /Nothing seem to matter /Every day was just another day to dream."

Tears were in Rusty's eyes, but he pretended that they weren't. No one with a heart to listen to someone sing that song and not feel all the pain and struggling in her voice. Flynn's eyes were even glassy, but Sharon 's were the only ones that were falling as she helplessly tried to wipe them away with her tissue.

_"You can say what you want /And be who you want to be, yeah /And you never looked back /To the things that you had /Or the ones that you never need._

"Buried in the questions /I can't find the answers /I close my eyes and listen /Till I remember /Everything is beautiful, beautiful.

"If this is all there is /You can't wrap your head around it /If somewhere love exists /You can wrap your arms around it."

The song continued to build, Riley's fingers moving easily and passionately across the keys she let the music consume her. This was her passion in life.

_"Can you hear me now?"_

Her eyes opened as her fingers danced to the end of the song. _"Everything is beautiful."_

The song had ended, but she didn't move. She felt like she was mentally and emotionally returning to the world she had left to be alone with the piano and there was no sound to it. The entire auditorium was silent, and Riley was almost afraid to look.

Suddenly Rusty jumped up in his seat and began applauding madly. That was _his _sister! Flynn immediately joined him, jumping up and whistling and was quickly added to by Provenza. She had emotionally stunned an entire audience and Sharon was still a little stuck. She reacted more slowly with the rest of the audience, politely applauding as Riley bashfully stood up and took her bow.

As much as she loved playing piano, she was ready to get the hell off stage. As calmly as she could she hurried over to Sharon's arms and felt wonderful as she was embraced again.

"I don't think we'll have to move to the East Coast," Riley said shyly as she closed her eyes and held tightly to her guardian.

"I think you're right."

It was the rules that the kids and to stay behind to collect their music and return the stage to its former glory before getting to head home. She had been bombarded with compliments from other students, the students that wanted nothing to do with her until they heard her performance. Still she was glad to get out of there when she saw Sharon standing in the lobby waiting for her chatting with people she had no idea who they were. She smiled at her excited foster mother who was waving her over to meet a friend of hers.

"Riley, this is Doctor Flannigan. Her daughter was in my son's class," Sharon explained, placing her hand on Riley's back. "They're the kind of Alumni that like to show their support by coming to the Fall Music Festival and such."

"It's nice to meet you," she replied shyly, really hoping this was not going to last long. She wanted to get to see the rest of her support staff before someone got a chance to sneak away.

Mrs. Flannigan beamed at Riley in a way that made Riley feel like a small child. She wanted to hide behind Sharon's leg and wait for her to quit socializing so they could go eat and go home. It had be a particularly stressful day and she was tired.

"Your talent is evident and your playing is superb. Do you take lessons?" she asked, almost towering over Riley.

Riley barely shook her head and Sharon immediately realized that this probably not the best time to push meeting new people on her. She was probably already overloaded from the recital and the other people that came up to talk to her.

"Where's my brother?" Riley asked softly to Sharon who understood she wanted to peaceful escape, but didn't necessarily take Sharon away from her socializing.

Sharon squeezed Riley's shoulder. "He's with Lieutenant Flynn and Provenza just outside. You're welcome to go find them."

She didn't miss the grateful smile before casting a vague farewell to the other two people staring at her. She was extremely happy to get away from people she didn't know and get back to the people she actually liked.

Donna Flannigan pursed her lips as she watched the girl go, completely missing Sharon's fond look that followed the girl. "That poor thing. I heard James Arnold talking about her. No wonder she's not skilled socially."

In a flash, Sharon's kind eyes turned to daggers as she looked back at her old friend, but the woman seemed none the wiser. "I've seen a lot of kids like her, Sharon. They walk in and out of my office everyday and they take a lot of time and counseling to get back to a norm."

Psychiatrists. Sharon bit back a scoff. Donna had always felt her opinion was the only one that held any real measure and she didn't see the same girl that Sharon saw.

"You should really consider professional help for her, dear. I'd even open up a spot in my schedule for her if you'd like," the woman continued, completely ignorant of the irritation on Sharon's features.

"The option has always been made available to her. If she wants to seek professional help, it will be something she decides, I won't force her," Sharon explained calmly, though she could feel her blood boiling, knowing fully that Donna was not about to stop there.

"That's not a decision for a broken child. Listen, you know I respect your opinion, but Riley obviously needs help-"

"Riley is not _broken_ and the fact that you use that word to describe any person tells me that if she was to decide that she wanted help, you would be the absolute last person on my list." The words came out of her mouth faster than she could stop them, stunning the woman to silence. Well, at least she wasn't degrading her child. "I'm going to take Riley and Rusty to dinner, praise Riley for her excellent performance and then take them _home_. Goodbye, Donna."

Sharon turned on her heels, and walked toward the door where she could already see Riley and Rusty laughing at one another. Andy stood near them, chuckling softly at the scene, but it looked like Provenza had already bowed out of the scene.

As soon as she opened the door to the outside, she was met with surprisingly cold air and the warm sound of laughter.

"I think everyone in the room was in shock," Rusty continued. "You kicked ass!"

"Rusty, language," Sharon warned lightly as the three of them fell into step beside her. "You did wonderfully."

"You kicked ass," Andy repeated, agreeing with Rusty.

Sharon playfully swatted at his arm as the two kids laughed. Good thing she liked him. His brown eyes twinkled at her as his hand fell on her lower back and the four of them walked toward her car.

"So, pizza tonight?" Sharon offered earning delighted smiles from both the kids in the backseat.

"With pepperoni!" Riley offered.

"And bacon!" Rusty added.

"So glad you two are too young for high cholesterol," Sharon teased.

Sharon didn't even argue when the kids sat on the floor, eating their pizza on plates over the coffee table as she and Andy stayed in the kitchen. She had poured herself a glass of wine and Andy was drinking a Coke. Almost as soon as they arrived home Riley changed into a comfortable pair of yoga pants and a t-shirt while Rusty changed into his own pajamas. This was once again out of the norm, considering technically they were eating dinner, but Sharon didn't mind after such a long day.

"You look beautiful tonight," Andy told her, his voice soft so the kids in the next room didn't hear him. "I've been trying to tell you that all night."

A light blush appeared on Sharon's cheeks as she self-consciously smooth her dress. "You don't look too bad yourself."

He loved the way she took compliments. Her eyes always fell bashfully and her cheeks held every slight pink tint. Then she would coyly return the compliment with hooded eyes and a smirk that could steal his heart. That was to say that she hadn't already.

Their tip-toe, slow dance type of relationship was almost confusingly slow. They occasionally held each other. They occasionally gave brief kisses goodnight, even make out on the couch. They'd have dinner together. But she was so used to keeping people at arm's length that she wasn't sure where to go from there.

There were so many rules she was breaking. So many things that she wasn't ready to confront that were staring in the face through these loving brown eyes. In her mind she knew that she was not even his type, and she knew _his _type.

It was so dangerous and risky, but it felt so damn right.

"Riley did really well tonight," Andy said causally, taking his eyes off Sharon just long enough to notice the throw had been pulled off the back of the couch and Riley had curled up on the couch as Rusty continued to watch the movie with extreme interest.

Sharon smirked. "She kicked ass."

Andy let out such a laugh both kids turned around and looked at him, but he paid them no mind. His attention was directed at Sharon who was still smirking victoriously. There was something about the light she held now. Though she was tired, she radiated this glow of energy.

Moving toward the living room, she patted Riley's leg. "Bed time, missy."

Riley groaned but didn't argue. She was far too tired. Standing up, she gave Sharon a hug and mumbled a goodnight before grabbing the pill bottle and heading to her room. Sharon noticed that she didn't just take her usual one, but a bottle of aspirin as well. At the moment, she decided not to say anything. If her head started hurting in the middle of the night Riley knew she could wake Sharon.

Rusty also stood up. "Goodnight," he told Sharon and offered Andy a smile.

"You don't have to go to bed yet, Rusty. Your sister was about to fall asleep on the couch and I know that's not the most comfortable place to sleep," she told him, absently rubbing her neck recalling the last time she had slept on the couch.

"Nah, it's okay," he said shrugging. "Nothing good on anyway."

"'Night, Andy," the boy called already walking down the hallway.

Andy smiled. "Goodnight, kid." Those brown eyes turned back to Sharon. They were alone. The kids off to bed and the family empty.

He put his hand around her waist and gently tugged her to the couch, letting her fall against him as they sat. Andy had the remote in one hand, flipping through the channels as the other hand gently rubbed circles on her hip bone. She let herself relax against his side, turning her head into his chest to smell the scent of his cologne. They could definitely get used to this.

Finally Andy clicked off the TV and relaxed deeper into the sofa. "Kid was right. Nothing good on."

Sharon smirked and tilted her head up to his neck inhaling again. He could feel her breath against his skin and it gave him chills as he held her tighter. "Sharon," he almost warned, not wanting to start something they couldn't finish.

"I love the way you smell," she replied seductively, her lips barely brushing his neck.

She had every intention of finishing what she was starting. For a moment she pulled away and looked Andy in the eye. She like what she saw in them a leaned in to kiss to his lips.

They're relationship blossomed, secretly, for the next several months. Andy spent Christmas with her and the kids, he was involved in their lives and the twins knew better than to mention it to anyone. Riley had gotten particularly used to him, and in a way he made her feel safer.

Though Rusty would never admit it aloud, he like having Andy around too. Sharon was very good with setting the ground rules about their relationship being separate from the relationship Andy had with the kids. It was never a question who came first, it was always Rusty and Riley. Something obviously the kids had never been used to.

Sooner than any of them had realized, summer had arrived. Granted that just meant summer school for the twins, having to catch up with classes they had missed while they were prostitutes. Dare Sharon say she was the happiest she had been in years and she was far from lonely anymore.

Still, another day, another murder. A celebrity's wife getting stabbed and thrown into the pool was the current case they were working with the new Deputy District Attorney who really made Sharon want to rip her head off. To top that off, this Emma was going to interview Rusty the same day for the Stroh case.

Rusty twirled the keys around his finger as he and Riley walked into the precinct. Phantom, the loyal dog, met them at the elevator as usual and followed them to the Major Crimes division. The desks were empty so they stopped by the tech room where everyone watched interviews.

Sharon saw them appear in the doorway and walked over to meet them. Her attention was split between them and the suspect, but they looked like they wanted to talk to her.

Riley gave her a smile that was impossible not to return as Rusty looked around her to the younger woman in the room. "Is that the new DDA? The one I'm going to have to talk to?"

Sharon felt herself stiffen at the question. "Emma Rios," she confirmed for him with a slight nod.

"What she like?"

Sharon seemed to think on this. "Lieutenant Provenza and I will both be with you for the interview."

Both twins grimaced, catching the meaning behind her words. "That bad, huh?" Rusty asked, but Sharon got called away before she could answer and they were shooed to her office by Tao.

Phantom continued trotting beside them as they made themselves comfortable in her office. Riley smiled to herself as her phone lit up and Rusty knew exactly who it was. There was a boy that had transferred mid semester and was getting some extra credits in the summer program with Riley. Sam. That was his name.

Riley was completely eaten up with him. He wasn't even a musician, but he was athletic and tall.

Rusty just rolled his eyes at her. "You're disgusting."

"You're boring," Riley replied shrugging off his insult.

Phantom yawned loudly and slid down to lay on the floor next to Riley's feet. Sharon came in a few moments later and was greeted with smiles that quickly faded when DDA Rios came in behind her followed by Provenza.

Rusty stiffened and Riley watched from behind her fallen bangs as Emma Rios made herself comfortable in Sharon's office. There was something Riley didn't like about that and she could tell Sharon didn't like it either.

"Who are you?" Emma said suddenly, noticing Riley for the first time as she looked up from her file.

Sensing Riley's inability to speak, Sharon stepped up. "This is Riley Beck, Rusty's sister."

Provenza heard the maternal anger at someone frightening her kid, but Emma must have completely missed it. "Well, I don't think you need to be in here," she replied with a bite to her voice.

Riley looked at Sharon, who gave the girl a small nod. "Why don't you go start your homework at Lieutenant Flynn's desk? I don't think he'll mind," Sharon suggested with an easy smile, trying to ease the girl's discomfort.

She shifted uncomfortably and gave Rusty a fleeting look. If he wanted her to stay, she'd stay. But he just shrugged, letting her know that he'd be fine. He had two allies already, his sister could go do homework elsewhere.

"Okay... well... I guess I'll be out there..." Riley said gathering her things. But Phantom stayed by her vacant chair looking up at Sharon for her command.

"You too, Phantom," the captain commanded gently. How horrible was it that she was actually considering getting the twins a dog?

The big German Shepherd stretched its back as it stood, easily trotting behind the girl.

Rusty looked up at Sharon and Provenza before finally looking at Emma Rios. This was not going to be fun.

Riley sat down at Lieutenant Flynn's desk, earning a odd look from him. Her sandy hair had been tied out of her face with a braid (finally listening to Sharon about keeping her hair out of her eyes) and those wide blue eyes seemed to be in distant thought.

She had always been skittish, like a beaten dog, but right then she looked more disconcerted than afraid. Phantom just stayed at her feet, always ready to protect her young master.

"What's up, kiddo?" Andy asked her, glancing at Sharon's office. He could see the new DDA questioning Rusty and Sharon's shoulders as stiff as a board. Obviously this young woman had no idea what she was getting herself into, poking a mother bear.

"I don't think I like her," Riley said like she was really trying to figure out whether or not that was truth, mostly because she lacked reason.

Andy smirked. "That's okay. I don't think the captain does either."

He watched as her hand tightened around the arm of the chair as the conversation in Sharon's office suddenly got heated. So heated in fact that Sharon was on her feet.

Sharon's lips were in a tight line and her eyes were piercing. How dare this woman question Rusty about _that_ part of his life. She could have ripped the woman's throat out like the mother bear she was.

"You think I'm tough?" Emma nearly laughed. "You wait until Stroh's lawyers as about how you and your sister ended up on the street. Or how you two became _whore-phans_."

Sharon nearly bolted to her feet as Rusty seemed to get hostile at the name calling. Whore-phan?

"Whoa!" Rusty snapped. "I'm sorry. A _whore-phan_?"

Emma just stood straighter. "Oh, they'll say it!"

Sharon had to nearly glue herself to that chair so she didn't jump up and slap the woman. "DDA Rios! We are stopping!" she demanded, her voice cold and threatening.

The young woman just glared at her. "Excuse me-"

Sharon didn't want to hear what she had to say. "It's time to stop," Sharon nearly yelled, not taking her eyes off of Rusty. There seemed to be angry tears building in the boy's eyes.

"Why are there officers in this interview?" Emma demanded glaring between

Provenza got between Rusty and Emma, also very ready for this to be done. "Rusty has a right to have his guardian present!"

That seemed to silence Emma, but only for a moment. "His guardian? Are you saying my-my witness lives with you? Do both of them live with you? Him and the girl?"

For the moment, Sharon ignored the question and gave her foster son a soft smile. "Rusty, that's enough for now. Lieutenant, thank you."

That was their cue to get out. Rusty snatched the car keys off Sharon's desk and stopped long enough to inform Emma she was an asshole and he was never going to talk to her again. Sharon had other words she'd use for it, but none of which she'd dare to say with children present.

But Rusty stopped again as he reached for the door. "And _the girl_ has a name. It's Riley."

And he was gone.

Emma moved to the front of Sharon's desk and licked her lips, preparing herself for a fight. "There is nothing in the LAPD rules or policy that says Rusty can't live with a police officer."

Sharon's eyes were daggers as she looked at the younger woman, almost daring her to push her to her limit. Sharon would win. Sharon always won. She knew the rulebook forward and backward. She had experience and intelligence on her side and she would not be put off by this Ivy League law school _brat_.

"Stroh's lawyers will claim you couched the witness!" Emma snapped.

Sharon nearly rolled her eyes. "Rusty and I have never even discussed the case."

"Nah, you just put a roof over his and his sister's head, fed them and bought them their clothes. Are you paying for the Catholic school that goes with the uniform he's wearing? And were those keys to a vehicle he just grabbed off your desk?" Emma shot at her, ready for a fight but having no idea who she was up against.

"I keep a car for when my children visit. Rusty takes it to school," she replied easily, no longer even looking at the woman, bored with the conversation.

"Oh, I apologize. You're not couching the witness, you're bribing him," the woman snapped incredulously. "This has to change. But first, I need him to finish this interview."

Soberly, Sharon looked back at the DDA. "That's not a good idea right now." This time, she didn't sound angry or have any hint of attitude in her voice. She was almost asking Emma to listen to her. To understand that she had Rusty's best interest in mind and at the moment it wasn't her.

Emma rolled her eyes. "Oh my God. Whatever happened to professional distance and good ole fashioned foster care?"

"That boy was selling himself on the street, so was his sister, so they could survive which puts them at special risk-"

"Don't talk to me about special ri-"

"Don't interrupt me," Sharon warned, her voice harsher than ever. "Which puts him at special risk for suicide."

Emma just stared at her, her expression stony. "Don't talk to me about special risk when I am prosecuting a serial killer."

Sharon sat back in her seat and clasped her hands in front of her, trying to keep herself from throttling the woman.

"I want those kids out of your house and placed somewhere else _post haste_."

Sharon almost shrugged. "That's not going to happen. So I suggest you factor my legal guardianship into your case."

Emma snatched up her files and moved toward the door. "Oh I am."

Sharon barely glanced at her. "And DDA Rios," she called coldly, catching the woman's attention again. "Those children have names. Rusty and Riley Beck."

There was no response needed and Emma slammed the door shut behind her. Sharon calmly stood up and followed behind her, noticing the confused expression Riley was giving her brother as he nearly pulled her toward the door.

"Shouldn't we tell Sharon we're leaving?" she asked looking across the room to Sharon exiting her office.

"You can do it. I'll be in the car. We're going home!" Rusty snapped not even turning toward where Emma was exiting. He couldn't even look at her right now.

Riley nodded. "Okay. I'll meet you in the car."

In a second Rusty moved toward the elevator while his sister gave Sharon a nervous look as she approached her. The look almost made Sharon's heart break. Those two were way too young to have to worry about things like they did.

Those big blue eyes looked borderline fearful as she got closer. "He's really upset," Riley almost whispered to Sharon like it was some sort of secret.

Sharon gave a small nod and placed her hand on Riley's shoulder to guide her back into the privacy of the office. "I know. I'm sure you can empathize."

Riley frowned and let out a hard exhale. "That woman's a bitch. She pretty well has it written all over her! She's probably had everything in her life handed to her and-"

"She doesn't know what it's like to have to make the hard choices in life," Sharon cut in, not correcting Riley's word choice. Still, she could see the frustration that someone had the nerve to hurt her brother. She could see that Sharon was just as mad as she was, even through her masked expression.

Riley pursed her lips, trying to remain tough and angry. "She's not going get us taken away from you, is she?"

It was at that moment that Sharon was given an even bigger reason to fight. This woman wasn't just threatening her by taking these kids that she loved away. Of course she knew that Rusty and Riley staying with her was the best for all of them, but she now remembered why. Those kids had been through enough. Riley would probably not survive being placed in another home, especially away from her brother. She would run and end up on the street all over again. Rusty... Rusty had spent so much of his young life fighting, she wasn't sure how much more he could handle.

Sharon was their life line. They needed her. She needed them and there was not a way in hell Emma Rios, some uptown snot-nosed brat, was going to take those kids from her.

So Sharon looked Riley in the eye, cupping her face with her palm and made a promise. "I will do everything in my power to make sure you two are together."

Riley's blue eyes looked up at Sharon with determination and strength that was definitely more often seen in her brother. "No. I want you too. I want the three of us to be together." Riley took a deep breath and summoned the bravery that she felt like she always lacked because what she was about to say was important, but also terrifyingly true.

"You're the only person that's ever cared what's happened to us or what will happen to us. You're the only mom we've ever had and I don't want to lose that," Riley said firmly. "So I want you to promise that you'll do your best to keep all of us together."

Sharon could feel the knot growing in her throat as Riley looked at her. Finally, she gave a small nod. "I will do everything I can to keep _all of us_ together. But if something happens," Sharon tapped on her own chest, "I will always be right here and you can always find me."

Riley nodded before going into hug her. Suddenly she felt a little less like an orphan.

_**I hope you liked it. If there is anything specific you want to see or anything you really liked or really just feel like leaving a review, I'd be glad to hear it! **_


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